Class D winner – Keith White BMW Z4 – Keith & Chris were neck & neck until the final race, and Keith has now won Class D 5 times in a row, and he was only 1 point behind Colin Dunn for 3rd place overall.

Novice. The winner of the Novice award is Bradley John who in his debut (Rookie) season finished 2 in Class CS.

Newcomer (As there were a lot of newcomers in 2016 we decided to give 3 awards)

3rd was Colin Lewis (Renault Clio) 2nd was Gareth Haycock VW Golf-

Newcomer of the Year was Richard Francis (Citroen Saxo) – Richard has become a father as well as finding his feet in cars, having raced Karts for several seasons.

Chwarae Teg award was given to Endaf Owens as he has introduced several new drivers to the Championship.

Presidents’ Awards. Robert gave a special awards to –

Paul Flinders – Paul was the Class BT winner in 2014, and although he has paid the same race-entry fees as everyone else he has hardly did 10 laps all year, and then not all in the same race!

Nick Rocke for all the work he did to support the club.

Steve Williams for allowing us to use all his wonderful photographs

Janice & Sonia Williams & Sue Davies for all the work they have done in years past on the raffle etc.

Young Driver of the Year Award Our Celtic cousin from Cornwall, Tyrone Lufferelli was awarded the 2016 Young Driver of the Year Award. WRDA Chairman Roger Dowden who presented the award said ‘Tyrone , driving a Peugeot 106 , is only 20 and won his Class with fine performances at Castle Combe & Pembrey and kept Jason honest and was 2nd in the overall standings! He has been one of the most consistent drivers , and so is a worthy winner of this award’

Former winners . Robert then gave a breakdown on the exploits of former winners of the Young Driver of the Year Award. Hywel Lloyd, who was the first Young Driver of the Year has moved to team management and his team CF Racing, won the MSV F3 Cup and his driver, George Line, won the Drivers Championship. Andy Meyrick has become a very experienced Endurance Racer, and is part of the MSA team helping young drivers. Matt Parry won his first GP3 race and is currently 7th in the championship, with the final races happening at the same time as the awards night! Seb Morris won the Young Driver of the Year Award in 2011 but he has since moved into the British GT Championship, and this has brought up the question how to recognise drivers who are now doing well.

The Neil Cunningham Memorial Award. After some thought a new award , ‘The Neil Cunningham Memorial Award’ was inaugurated by the Welsh Racing Drivers Association. WRDA President Robert Allender said about the award, ‘There are lots of links between New Zealand, where Neil was born, and Wales where he came to live with his wife Rachael. Neil was just reaching out to clubs in Wales and he became known to myself and other members of the WRDA, but before we could build on the relationship, he was struck down by this horrible disease Motor Neurone Disease! Neil set up a charity giving page ‘Racing4MND’ to raise funds for the Heaton Ellis Trust which funds research in to a cure for MND. We know Neil had a good career in Single Seaters, Saloons and especially in GT Racing and we have several young drivers who are making names for themselves, so after Neil passed on we reached out to Rachael and she was happy to allow us to honour Neil in this way. She was especially pleased that our first choice was Seb Morris for his efforts in British GT racing, (where he set multiple poles, fastest laps & podium places) especially his efforts at Oulton Park where he broke the circuit lap record, during his drive which secured the first race win for Seb and his team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr, as it was at Oulton Park she first meet Neil. ‘Neil was interested in helping young drivers, so this was something he would approve of’ Seb said ‘I’m delighted to have been awarded the Neil Cunningham memorial award. May I thank the Welsh Racing Drivers Association, all guests and especially Rachael Cunningham. I am very honoured to be the first recipient of Neils’ award and I will cherish it’ Seb has his own personal award while Rachael will look after the actual trophy until such time as another winner makes him/her presence known!

Later in the awards night there was a raffle and an auction and a substantial donation has been made to Neils’ charity Racing4MND which supports the Heaton-Ellis Trust which tries to find a cure for this cruel disease! There were also a donation to the Welsh Air Ambulance, and to Jennie Morris chosen charity.

Having won the 2016 WRDA Young Driver of the Year, Tyrone Lufferelli, later picked up the inaugural ‘Colin Gundersen Fastest Lap trophy’

As Colin wasn’t able to join us for the Awards Night, in the circumstance Blake Edwards (the first ever WSSCC Champion, stepped in and did the honours.

The ‘Colin Gundersen Fastest Lap at Pembrey’ award was calculated by taking the Class fastest lap divided by the fastest lap in the race x 100 = points. It was very tight – Roger Dowden was leading for a long time, but Peter Hills took the class AS fastest lap in the last race which threw it all up in the air. It was then very tight with Roger dropping to 4th; Dave Scaramanga moving into 3rd but with Jason Davies 2nd, only 2.482 points behind the winner Tyrone Lufferelli.

Welsh Championship winner. C0lin Dunn was 3rd and Tyrone Lufferelli was 2nd but Jason, who drove a 2WD Ford Sierra Cosworth turbo, dominated the later stages of the championship after one or two early season glitches and he was a well deserved winner! After the first ever Welsh champion Blake Edwards had presented him with his award, Jason, whose father Martin had won the same Championship, commented ‘It was something special to win, this championship is not easy, there are a lot of very good and very quick drivers in it, and it was really special to win it 20 years after my dad won it too!’

Jason Davies storms to the 2016 title – by Nick Rocke (Race 1 report at the bottom of the page)

Race 2 – Pembrey- 15 minutes + 1 lap – rolling start.

So after several torrential down pours of rain since the 1st race, everyone emerged from there hiding spots and swept the water from their work space, and started preparing their car for our second race of the day and the last race of our season. With a lot riding on this last race some were keener than others to get it done, but due to the terrible weather conditions some decided to throw in the towel and pack up.

We had a total of 26 cars entering out of the 31 that were out in qualifying. Mark Harris had decided not to race but he wasn’t racing for points, Del-boy Delaronde had the same idea as well. Andy ‘Risca’ Williams decided not to repair his Sierra Cosworth after race 1 and loaded it onto the trailer to fight another day. Richard Francis also could not enter the final race due to his car intermittently cutting out. The weather had got so bad that they even cancelled one of the super karts races as they deemed it too dangerous for them to race.

But a bit of rain wasn’t going to phase our WSSCC drivers, as most of us are used to the Welsh rain by now. Championship contender Jason Davies in the turbo powered Sierra Cosworth was at an advantage in the wet and also strangely likes racing in the wet weather, he would need to finish this race high up in his class to keep Tyrone Lufferelli ( class BT ) from stealing the Championship crown. There only the odd one or two points between the top 4 drivers in the championship, so if one was to falter in this race someone else would be waiting to take their spot in the top 3 overall.

So race 2 got under way it wasn’t raining at the start but there was lots of surface water, Jason had the inside line again coming into hatchets and gained substantial ground in the first few corners. Krayem and Everill were next around surprisingly followed by Fabio’s Corrado silhouette who had gained two positions off Keith White and Reuben in the Peugeot 206cc, then followed by the Mini turbo of Jim Lyons who had BT star Tyrone behind him! Tyrone had got past 3 class CS cars at the start and was now almost chasing his dad in the Corrado. Chris Morris was passing the Clio of Colin Lewis going into the crossing on their first lap.

Jason’s lead had grown again by lap 2 almost looked like a repeat of race 1 , Fabio was still running in 4th in front of Keith in the Z4 , Tyrone had stayed with Jims MNini and was trying to get past at every opportunity. Back further in the pack Roger Dowden was running in front of Daryl Radford’s Honda civic with Peter Hills behind him. Peter still appeared to be slower than usual, my guess is the weather and poor grip were to blame.

By lap 3 Jason’s lead had grown yet again and was now 10 seconds in front of 2nd place Dave Krayem, Keith White in 5th had caught up to Fabio’s Corrado and was now looking to make a move. Jims mini had pulled away and had a bit of space between him and Tyrone now. Colin Lewis was still running in 2nd in class BT and had the Evo of Bradley John sandwiched between him and Colin Dunn. Colin was pushing hard to try get past the Evo but the BHP figures were against him I think. Daryl was still chasing Roger Dowden’s Davrian. As Jason Davies came through the crossing on lap 4 he had a more than comfortable lead over Dave Krayem who was still pushing hard to keep 2nd place away from Chris Everill’s Ginetta G50. By now Keith White was running in 4th and 3rd in Class D, which suited him well as with his Joker in play, he only had to keep Chris in sight to win Class D for the 5th year running.

Tyrone was all alone running in 1st in BT. Colin Lewis had pulled away from Colin Dunn a bit but we had seemed to of lost Bradley john, Chris Morris had now put the little yellow Iggy between Lewis and Dunn.

On lap 5 Jason looked to have this one all wrapped up his lead continued to grow and all he needed now was to bring it home to become the 2016 WSSCC Champion. Most of the pack were evenly spaced out and no close racing on this lap although Colin Dunn had managed to get passed Chris Morris and now was trying to play catch up to gain on Colin Lewis. Jason, Krayem and Everill made their way through the traffic on lap 6, Peter Hills had picked up the pace a little and appeared to be pushing a bit harder eventually catching and passing Roger Dowden, and in the process taking the fastest lap in the AS class. This will have an impact on the new ‘Colin Gundersen’ Fastest Lap Trophy, as Roger, Jason and Tyrone have all now only scored 7 out of the 8 rounds at Pembrey! This will take some working out!

Back in the race, Jim Lyons was making up ground in the turbo’d mini and was catching the 206cc of Reuben Taylor, Colin Dunn had pulled away from Morris and had made some ground up on Lewis. Jason Davies came past on the start of his lap 7 still running and running well he had a 22 second lead over Dave Krayems Ginetta, Krayem and Everill were still a few car lengths apart they had been like this since the start of the race, Keith White had caught back up and was only a second behind Everill, Daryl in the Civic type R had closed the gap to Dowden and was waiting for Roger to make a mistake. Somewhere in the spray Bradley John visited the pits on lap 3 and had re-appeared in the middle of the pack, having lost almost 5 minutes! The official time keepers only had him down as doing 10 laps which was not enough to be classified as a finisher! Whether it was Brads lack of real wet tyres, and he only did do 10 laps, it shows the value of keeping your own lap chart, so you can challenge the result if you need to! Back in the race, Jason was now starting lap 8 and carried plenty of speed through the crossing kicking up a massive tail wave in the standing water! It is hard to express how wet it was on circuit but it didn’t phase Jason! The gap between the ‘Colins’ was still the same but both drivers were pushing hard, Chris Morris was now catching Gareth Haycock’s VW Golf and were only a few car lengths apart.

Keith had caught up with Chris Everill and was looking for a way past, Fabio lufferelli was still out there didn’t appear to being pushing, this was not surprising considering how ill he felt before the race, but he was out there supporting the Championship and hopefully having a bit of fun in those wet conditions! Daryl had made the move on Dowden and had gained a bit of ground, I know how hard it can be to get past Roger. He is really good on the brakes, so it’s hard to out brake him into corners, and that little Davrian really shifts out of the corners as well, so Daryl would have to work hard to outwit the gentleman. Tyrone was still 1st in class BT and as long as he didn’t make any mistakes, there was no threat close by. Jason started his lap 9 and didn’t appear to be as flat out as previous laps he was probably thinking to conserve the car as he must have known by looking in his rear-view mirror on the straights, he’d done enough to secure his position.

Glynne in the M3 was now having a bit of a battle with Bradley’s Evo, Peter Hills appeared to be getting into his stride as he made up some ground to Radford. In a dry race he would normally be running in the top 10 positions but this wet weather didn’t agree with his little Mini, which was one of a few Mini’s that were out with us at this meeting, shame it wasn’t dry as they can get very competitive due to their power to weight ratio, matching some of the much larger engine class cars. And as if at a blink of an eye Jason was coming passed again on his lap 10 and was carrying a 26 second lead to comfort him on his way, must have made his most important race of the season a bit less daunting knowing that he just had to keep his lines clean and get it home. Reuben’s Peugeot 206cc was still running well but with no one around him to race with. Jason was now on lap 11 only a few more to go I did wonder what was going through his head at this point in time, (Check out the post-race interview). Jasons dad Martin Davies who won 3 WSSCC championships in a 2wd car (Martins 4th win in 2012 was with the 4wd car) was waiting nervously in the pits, counting down the laps, and almost 20 years to the day that he won the last of his triple wins in 94,95 & 96, so this was a very important race for both him and his son Jason!

Meanwhile, Colin Dunn had closed the gap right up to Colin Lewis and was now within a second of him.

Jason Davies had now started lap 12 of his race, Daryl Radford slipped down the inside of the backmarker Craig Edmunds in the 205 gti, Craig has been out with us for the last 4 races and is new to racing and is gaining his signatures to move on to bigger and brighter things in the near future, we wish him all the best but maybe he will come back out with us next season for a few races. Dave Krayem and Chris Everill were stilling fighting hard for that second place, within half a second of each other. they were pretty evenly match just down to who wants it more I guess but good racing to watch though.

Colin Dunn was still within a second of Colin Lewis but was a backmarker to the Corrado of Fabio so lost a bit of time coming through old paddock but maybe this will play to his advantage when Fabio passes Lewis going down to Brooklands. Jason now on lap 13 with a 34 second lead over Dave Krayem he had time to back off a little and not kill the car off in the last few laps. The ‘Colins’ were now either side of Bradley’s hamstrung Evo again. Jim Lyons had pulled off just after Debeni corner on lap 12, as he felt his gearbox go tight after a heavy trip over the kerbs. Damian Logotano had pulled off early on leaving Ken James to take 3rd in Class CS and 3rd in the Final Class CS points. Bradley John was 2nd in the Final Class CS points having already scored enough points, so his NQ and Zero Joker score in this race did not really matter! It was a seriously good debut season!

Back in the race the Class D trio of Krayem, Everill and White were still running in the same positions and fighting all the way to the end. 4th was Fabio Luffarelli, ahead of Reuben Taylor Peugeot 206cc 2000 (5th) with Tyrones’ BT Pug 106 Gti 1600 in a fantastic 6th place overall!

Reuben won the Driver of the Race for his debut performance amongst the ranks of those with such recent Pembrey history, and promised to come back to do the Championship in 2017. Actually Keith White, Fabio and Reuben all have hot-rod heritage! (Looks like a Michael Caine fact by Robert)

So the flag dropped, as Jason Davies sailed across the line to win by over 30 seconds and become our 2016 WSSCC Champion, Class CS winner and win the Outright Wins trophy too! It was bloody well-earned as he hasn’t been handed it this year by any means, he’s had to fight and push himself and that Cosworth turbo to the limit. Well done Jason you are a credit to your family and the WSSCC and most importantly yourself. An amazing achievement and I liked the little celebratory burnout, I was expecting a bit of doughnuting but you can save that for your next championship win!

Prologue – So Jason Davies stormed home to win the final races of the season at a rain soaked Pembrey on Sunday to clinch the 2016 Welsh Sports & Saloon Championship! It was an emotional time for the Haverfordwest family team, as it was virtually 20 years to the day that his dad Martin Davies won the last of his 3 Welsh titles! Any thoughts Jason might have had of stroking home to the title went out of the window , as torrential rain showers swept the track! Jason revealed later ‘We decided early on that the best place to be was in lead’ and he set out his stall in Qualifying when he set a time almost 2 seconds faster than everybody else to take pole position! He then simply drove away from the field to win by almost 30 seconds in Race 1 and by over 30 seconds in the Final race of the season! Afterwards he admitted ‘I was really pushing it, this championship is not easy, there are a lot of very good and very quick drivers in it and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t involved in any battles today!’ Looking back he said ‘We had some problems early on in the season but we worked on them and the cars is now quick and reliable’ It is just as well, as Jason’s main points rival, Tyrone Lufferelli from Cornwall, was ready to pick up the pieces if Jason or his car had faltered! Such was the tension that Jason admitted he was overcome with emotion as he crossed the line and took the Chequered Flag! Martin himself commented, ‘I’m glad it’s over, it was really tense! I’d rather be driving than in the pits as part of the crew!’ Jason confirmed that he will be back in 2017 to defend the title. ‘We plan to upgrade the car, and I may do other things as well but I will certainly be back to wear the winners number on my car, like my dad did!’

Jason will pick up the Overall Trophy at the Awards Night at the end of November and will also pick up the award for most race wins, having won 6 of the 10 races run this year!

Jason Davies stormed home to win the final races of the season at a rain soaked Pembrey on Sunday to clinch the 2016 Welsh Sports & Saloon Championship. After the wet races at Pembrey in August, the weather has been mainly dry and sunny! Actually Friday was dry, but on Saturday afternoon the heavens opened and from then on Pembrey was racked by monsoon like rain showers!

Entry & Qualiyfing On route to Pembrey on the Sunday morning the weather looked horrendous, the skys were full of nothing but rain but fortunately the weather was kind to us for qualifying and stayed reasonably dry, There were a few hiccups in the morning as Andrew Williams from Cardiff had left his complete induction kit at home and was having to run without an air filter. Fabio Lufferelli was feeling rather poorly as was Roger Dowden but both pushed on and battled through it. Pembrey was looking a bit sorry for its self in the morning with puddles everywhere and was getting difficult to move cars around in the saturated grass areas. Antony Week’s gazebo over his Mazda RX8 sadly didn’t make it through the night and had collapse onto the car. If it had rained any more overnight you would of needed a rudder and outboard motor the cross some of the puddles but that’s welsh weather for you and surprisingly some of the competitors prefer it wet. Thankfully the Legends had been out before us and dried the lines up a bit.

Colin Dunn led the pack out in qualifying on the damp circuit in his Renault Clio sport and went strong achieving his first pole position of the season (BT class) beating Tyrone Lufferelli by 4 10ths of a second, speaking with Colin after he said the car seems to prefer the wet condition. Tyrone had braking issues and retired back to the pits after 7 laps. Jason Davies took overall pole position with a very respectable 1.03.9 and came in early as he had done enough after 6 laps! Behind him where the Class C Ginettas of Dave Krayem and Chris Everill followed by Keith White in the BMW z4.

Dave Scaramanga qualified first in class ct and was 12 on the grid going into the first race. Roger Dowden qualified 1st in class AS in his little Davrian. Andy Williams’ Sierra was out but only managing a 1.11.8 putting him into 5th in CS and 10th on the grid going into the first race. Andy retired the car to the pits early after a spin at Senna Esses. Peter Hills after an eventful season with constant engine issues, was now back out, but now lacking rear end grip due to a set of worn out wet tyres! Speaking to him after qualifying he said that the engine problems are all now sorted and its running perfectly, but was now struggling with the handling and was planning to source another set of wets from another competitor and go from there. Peter was starting from 25th on the grid so had his work cut out to fight his way up through the pack.

The entry was a massive 31 cars, but unfortunately Verity Banks in the MG ZR was yet again plagued by engine troubles after only one lap! Cruelly the head gasket failed and clouds of white smoke billowed out from its exhaust as she crept back to the paddock! My heart goes out to this girl, she has had nothing but bad luck all season but I suppose that’s the nature of motorsport. So only 30 cars would start race one! (say that again – Ed) 30 Cars! (BTW who is Ed?) Actually 33 cars had entered (which is one more that the maximum allowed by the MSA track licence) but sadly we lost Andy Long with a back problem, then Wileem Verhaak as he could not repair his damaged car in time, and then finally Paul Flinders withdrew too! However their misfortune was good news for one of our old pals Del Delaronde as he was able to make a late entry! (Del, our favorite Canadian accountant now living in Cefn Cribwr, Bridgend says he is looking to return full time net year in something tasty but was just keeping his hand in with a hired MG ZR) Actually with Andy Long missing, Susanne Jones not entering and Verity out it meant that Anthony Weeks and his Maxda RX8 was the only guy in Class BS! If he finished both races he could pick up 3rd in Class in end of season points total! (BTW if you want to know what Robert was doing, he wasn’t just keeping out of the rain, he was writing out the ‘End of Season’ Race Fee Rebates which he was able to pass around in the lunch break)

The forecast looked right, with heavy rain showers forecast and I suspect that the local Halfords was out of Rainex & Fogex, as the weather was a going to be a bit hit and miss. After qualifying we had a few heavy down pours and everyone was waiting in suspense to see if they were going to risk going out on drys or stick with the wets. The wait for that decision did last long, as it poured down.

Jason Davies and Dave Krayem were on the front row and as the lights went out, Jason had the inside line going into Hatchets with Dave Krayem in the Ginetta and Keith White in the BMW Z4 to his left, but by Old Paddock Jason had stormed ahead almost by 6 car lengths! Trailing him were the 5 Class D cars which shows how quick that Sierra Cosworth is and how much skill Jason Davies has to keep that beast under control! The next car was Glynne Jones in his new tail happy BMW M3 and he was being chased by the crazy looking big winged 1300 turbo Mini of Jimbo Jim Lyons. Further back Tyrone had jumped up in to 1st in Class after starting behind BT pole man Colin Dunn. Lufferelli Jnr was actually dicing with the VW Sirocco of Dave Scaramanga into Paddock Bend on the first lap, which was very brave on cold tyres in the wet, but he pulled it off and took the position. Newcomer this year, Colin Lewis from Llandissilo, was going strong in the Clio 172, Peter Hills was still struggling with grip from his wet tyres and was a lot further back than we are used to seeing him.

As Jason’s Cosworth came around on the start on lap two his lead had gone from 6 car lengths to 6 seconds and he was now out on his own racing himself probably trying his hardest not to push too hard and keep his lines perfect as the championship lead was at stake. Tyrone’s lead had lengthened slightly but the rest of the pack had not really changed positions but had spaced out a little. As the last car of Del-boy de la Ronde passed by Old Paddock on lap 2 I could see Jason Davies breaking into Hatchets on his lap 3! It was obvious the wet conditions were not phasing Jason, as he was only a few seconds off his best dry time, in the wet! As Jason disappeared into the distance, and with Dave firmly established in 2nd place, the action at the front centred on the Class D duel between Keith (Z4 Silhouette) and Chris (Ginetta G50). At the start of the race Keith had a 2 point lead over Chris at the top of the Class D standings. Keith had decided to wait to use his Joker in the last race of the day, but needed to stop Chris from maximising his own joker!

Reuben Taylor in the Peugeot 206cc Silhouette had lost a few seconds to the pack of class D cars but Fabio Lufferelli’s Corrado Silhouette Suzuki was hot at his heels , behind him was the Mini turbo of Jim followed by Andy Williams’ non turbo powered Sierra Cosworth and Tyrone’s BT Class Pug was now fending off Damian Longotano’s Class CS Westfield.

By lap 4 Jason had started lapping the backmarkers, and Keith White in the Z4 had managed to steal 2nd place off Dave Krayem. We seemed to have lost Andy Williams his Cosworth (we didn’t know until after the race he had spun at Esses corner and hit the tyre wall resulting in the end of his weekend). Tyrone in the white/green Peugeot 106 was still pushing that little 1600cc engine hard staying behind the Westfield of Longotano. Richard Francis was having some difficulties with his car and pulled off to the side at old paddock, but he got it started again and got on his way joining the end of the pack, unfortunately his car would not last the race and shortly after this it cut out again and was retired to the outfield somewhere around circuit, speaking to Richard afterward he said it kept cutting out intermittently and suspects a fault with the ECU, but he would be out in race 2 later in the day, if he could fix it.

Bradley john was running on road going tyres as he didn’t have any wets, due to changing wheel size in the near future, and was struggling to keep all of the 650 Japanese horses at bay, as he followed Tyrone through the crossing. Colin Dunn was going strong in 2nd in Class BT but was closely tailed by the other BT class driver Colin Lewis, strangely also in a Clio too, 2 Colin’s both in Clio’s what are the chances! Chris Morris, one of our few AT class drivers was on his own with a few seconds either side of him to the nearest competitor. Daryl Radford also appeared to be struggling in these wet conditions.

The weather then took a turn for the worst as it started to rain yet again. On lap 5 Jason’s lead had grown to 15 seconds to the 2nd place Keith white who was still keeping Dave Krayem at bay. Tyrone’s lead over the two Colins’ was now around 7 seconds but the Clios of Dunn and Lewis were still very much head to head. On lap 6 Keith White must have made a mistake as Dave had got back passed and claimed some ground but Keith then settled on driving well enough to keep Chris Everill behind him! Jim Lyons had lost a position back to Fabio’s Corrado. Fabios’ son Tyrone had dropped back from Longotano’s Westfield now and still had a good lead over the rest of the BT class. As Colin Dunn and Colin Lewis came through Debeni into old paddock Lewis made a dive down the inside of Dunn’s Clio and made the move stick, good clean racing and a textbook move. On lap 7 Jason’s lead had moved to 17 seconds over 2nd placed Dave K. Keith was still holding off Chris for 3rd. Tyrone still leading class BT but was about to get lapped by the shockingly fast Sierra Cosworth of Jason, as Davies starting his lap 8! Colin Lewis still had the 2nd in class BT and had put a bit of ground between him and Colin Dunn. On lap 9 Jason lapped the two kit cars of Longotano and Ken James which had now switched places.

Lap 10 Jason was still flying, not to exaggerate if you were to look away and look back again he would have already passed your view on his next lap. In all it was a tour de force that gained him the Driver of Race award! He had a gigantic lead over the 2nd and 3rd place cars and had lapped everybody up to Fabio in 6th place and most other competitors at least once! Fabio had a great dice with Reuben Taylor. Reuben nicked by Fabio at the end but he had Fabio on his tail all the way to the chequered flag! Damian’s Westfield had left Ken James and had a few seconds lead on the Loco Hornet. Tyrone had got back past the VW Sirocco of Dave S again.

On lap 11 Jason’s lead over D K had grown to 25 seconds, and Chris Everill was now pushing Keith White looking for a chance to make his move. Colin Dunn had a few flamboyant moments coming through the crossing, and I’m sure he will remember one very sideways moment for a long while, but it was well recovered and it looked great!

On lap 12 Jason worked his way back through the traffic for the second time, Tyrone Lufferelli was now having a pop at passing CS class Ken James in the Loco Hornet kit car, Colin Lewis was safely in 2nd in class BT and with no challenger in site. Chris Morris in the Ignis and Roger Dowden were both going strong in the middle of the pack but both had lots of breathing space.

On the last but one lap , lap 13 Jason had a more than comfortable lead and was just sailing that beautiful Cossie home. A cheeky Tyrone was again trying to get past Ken’s Loco Hornet by trying to slip down the inside line into old paddock! Keith in the Z4 had lengthened the gap between him and Chris Everill. Colin Lewis in the Clio 172 cup car was making good of his Grass Track skills was now gaining ground on the Evo of Bradley John.

Jason then came around on the final lap after 14 laps; he knew from the start that he would have to finish and win both races to ensure he had maximum points to take the championship crown. So he just had to bring her home and he did bring it home, one in the bag and only one more race away from becoming the new WSSCC champion! In 4th place Chris Everill rued his failure to maximise his joker, but conceded ‘Keith knows how to put his car in just the right place. He drove well!’ In between races Chris moved to the top of Class D, but Keith had his joker to place in the crucial final round. Well Done to all amazing racing !!

Prologue – So Jason Davies stormed home to win the final races of the season at a rain soaked Pembrey on Sunday to clinch the 2016 Welsh Sports & Saloon Championship! It was an emotional time for the Haverfordwest family team, as it was virtually 20 years to the day that his dad Martin Davies won the last of his 3 Welsh titles! Any thoughts Jason might have had of stroking home to the title went out of the window , as torrential rain showers swept the track! Jason revealed later ‘We decided early on that the best place to be was in lead’ and he set out his stall in Qualifying when he set a time almost 2 seconds faster than everybody else to take pole position! He then simply drove away from the field to win by almost 30 seconds in Race 1 and by over 30 seconds in the Final race of the season! Afterwards he admitted ‘I was really pushing it, this championship is not easy, there are a lot of very good and very quick drivers in it and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t involved in any battles today!’ Looking back he said ‘We had some problems early on in the season but we worked on them and the cars is now quick and reliable’ It is just as well, as Jason’s main points rival, Tyrone Lufferelli from Cornwall, was ready to pick up the pieces if Jason or his car had faltered! Such was the tension that Jason admitted he was overcome with emotion as he crossed the line and took the Chequered Flag! Martin himself commented, ‘I’m glad it’s over, it was really tense! I’d rather be driving than in the pits as part of the crew!’ Jason confirmed that he will be back in 2017 to defend the title. ‘We plan to upgrade the car, and I may do other things as well but I will certainly be back to wear the winners number on my car, like my dad did!’

Jason will pick up the Overall Trophy at the Awards Night at the end of November and will also pick up the award for most race wins, having won 6 of the 10 races run this year!

Qualifying and Practice – Race 1 – Race 2 -all below

Although it was still August, the weather was anything but summery! The Saturday forecast was for Rain and Gale force winds, although the rainy phase was mercifully short-lived, so the wind as having a drying effect. Sunday dawned sunny and cloudy and the winds were lighter.

Qualifying and Practice. There were usual mix of championship regulars, plus some new faces & returnees, including yours truly, but thanks to Susanne and Nick for standing in whilst I was away. Back to the racing! Dave Krayem set pole position in his big, black Class D Ginetta G50, with a time of 60.00.28 seconds! Keith White was 2nd fastest making it a Class D lock out ! Jason Davies, the current points leader, was 3rd fastest in his Class CS Ford Sierra Cossie, with Chris Everill with his nice looking G50 4th. Andy ‘Risca’ Williams was 5th in his Ford Sapphire. The VSCC timers made several errors but the best one had Ken James as 6th fastest, driving Damian Longotan! Actual he was driving his usual Loco Hornet! Jim Lyons seemed to be getting his Turbo Mini moving in the right direction, and had Fabio Luffarelli for company on row 4. Fabio was giving his VW Corrado a run out at Pembrey for the first time in 10 years! (but also had the Moto Mini as back up). Damian Longotano himself was on row 5 with his Westfield and was joined by Keith Butcher and his G50. Dave Scaramanga was on row 5 giving his VW Scirocco it’s debut at Pembrey, and he was joined by Bradley John and his Mitsubishi Evo. Peter Hills was on row 7 taking the Class AS pole with his nice blue Mini, with Mike Moss who was making his Pembrey debut in his Westfield. Tyrone Luffarelli was on row 8 with his Class BT pole sitting Peugeot 106 and had Roger Dowden and his AS Davrian for company. On Row 9 Susanne Jones had moved up to Class AS for this race. She had Gareth Haycock for company in his VW Golf. Row 10 saw Chris Morris making a welcome re-appearance with his Suzuki Ignis, and he had Daryl Radford and his colourful Honda Civic. Row 11 saw Andy Long and his Honda Civic and the improving Dad to be, Richard Francis and his colourful Saxo! (Richard and his wife Rebecca are expecting an addition to their family real soon.) Row 11 saw Colin Dunn and Anthony Weeks and his Mazda RX8. Tony was another driver making his Pembrey debut, but sadly oil pressure problems made him miss the race. However it was too much oil pressure that was causing the problem, so it was sadly back to the workshop! Paul Flinders also missed the race with overheating in his turbo Toyota MR2! Andrew Williams was on row 13 along with Alan Smith. Craig Edmunds was 14th in Phil Bendalls old Ford Fiesta and Verity Banks was the last starter. Craig’s practice did not last long before the engine suffered a big blow up with a few rod through the block, this distributed a fair amount of oil on the far part of the circuit! The team raced back to pick up a spare car so Craig could get a few more signatures on his licence.

In the lunch break I asked Jason what his plan was. ‘I’m planning to have 2 quiet races!’ There were the usual few people wandering around the paddock in the lunchtime. Giles Beck, Phil Bendall, and Richard Rhozon, to name a few. Richard is planning to enter a Peugeot silhouette to match Keith White & Fabio in 2017, should be good! As the sky clouded over, and it began to drizzle there was a lot of discussion as to the choice of slick or wets in the slick tyre classes!

The race 1 – 15 minutes plus 1 lap. Rolling Start

Midfield action, Mid-afternoon at Pembrey! Photo by Steve Williams

However although Qualifying was held on a dry track, but the time the grid had moved from the pit-lane towards the assembly area, the rain-clouds had gathered and the rain was getting heavier. There was a delay dealing with an incident in one of the vintage races. The Assembly Area was full of cars for the next Vintage race, the WSSCC cars were strung along the Paddock. Jason Davies was one of the last to leave and he made a dash back to the pits to change on to full wets, which then became a landslide as car after car followed suit, after the organiser had given 10 minutes grace to change tyres if needed!

So the grid went out on their green flag lap, which in time honoured fashion, was for 2 laps as the conditions had changed between practice and the race. As the pace car pulled off, and the lights went green, Dave Krayem pulled away into the lead, with Jason Davies first to show from out of the spray! Jasons idea of a quiet race, lasted all of 3 laps, and once he was in the lead he pulled away and the lead extended out and back again, depending on the state of the track and lapping the backmarkers. Dave did his best to stay in touch and after early pressure from Keith White, he pulled away as Keith White now had Chris Everill for very close company! Fabio, who finished 6th was getting his VW Corrado up to speed, and had a tussell with Keith Butcher who finished 5th & Andy Williams who finished 7th and was the last un-lapped runner.

Peter Hills unfortunately only did 2 slow laps, before retiring to the pits with ignition trigger problems. Verity Banks joined him and Jim Lyons joined them, after showing well early on! Jimbo had found the car handling oddly in practice, and decide a change of half shaft and CV joints was needed, and his pit crew, including Endaf set about changing it. It only took a few laps for him to conclude that it was other shaft that was causing the problem! Still they had plenty of time change it before race 2. Peter, Verity & Jim were the only retirements.

Back on the track there was plenty of mid-field action, broken up as the leaders came up to lap them, to resume after they had passed. There was a huge scrap between Damian Longtano and Ken James with only 2/100th separating them at the end! Similarly Bradley John, Dave Scaramanga and Gareth Haycock were having a set to, but Gareth got by and pulled away to finished 10th , and was the last runner on 14 laps! Bradley (11th) and Dave (12th) had a race long duel. Visibility was the key for several drivers, with at least Dave, Roger Dowden and Chris Morris suffering badly! Indeed Chris had to do a pit stop to get help to clear the inside of his screen, whilst Roger’s slow speed wipers were unable to keep pace with the rain & spray and dropped back to finish 16th! In Class BT, Tyrone Lufferelli (13th) seemed to have no such problems, but he had his work cut out to keep ahead of Colin Dunn (14th) who was really flying and putting Tyrone under all sorts of pressure! Daryl Radford (15th)had been a little way back fighting with Susanne Jones, but once past he made a big effort late on close the gap and set the Class BT fastest lap! Susanne (16th) was running in Class BS but found her tyres going off late on, and came under pressure from Pembrey debutant Mike Moss whose Westy was only 2/10ths behind at the finish! Andy Long was 19th in his Honda Civic and was the last runner on 13 laps. Andy ‘Caldicot’ Williams was an impressive 20th having had a pre-event race to fit a new engine! Alan Smith was 21st after some heavy application of the ‘engineers screwdriver’ (a hammer, if you were wondering) Craig Edmonds was 22nd After his pit-stop Chris Morris was 23rd, with Richard Francis last in 24th. Richard had a torrid time with a couple of visits to the scenery, and a brush with the barriers. The car looked fairly pristine. but Mike Skelton the Clerk of the Course, sent him to the Doctor for a check, just in case! Actually Mike could have asked told him to see his dad, who was the circuit doctor in the very early years. Peter has on hand to look after Richard, who was sponsored by ‘The Bank of Mum & Dad’ lol!

So Jason ran out as the worthy winner, ‘I was happy to take the lead as there is less pressure on the engine and transmission in the wet. I wouldn’t mind if it rained all the time!’

Jason has gone, but the rest struggle through, and it was as bad as that! Photo by Steve Williams

Race 2 The race 1 – 15 minutes plus 1 lap. Rolling Start. It is a long time since we had 2 wet races and in the interval between our first & second races of the day, there was a lot of head-scratching as to what was the best method of keep the windscreen free of mist! Thankfully the days have now past, when one of the supposed methods was to rub a raw potato across the screen! I kid you not, this was a supposed ‘best method’! I never had to try it, thanks be to god! Actually I usually prefer my potato cut into thin strips, and then fried!

Anyway there was no pondering on whether slicks might be worth a gamble! It was wet, very wet. So the grid went out on their first of two green flag laps, and then when the lights changed, Jason Davies went into a lead he was never to loose! Dave Krayem was 2nd throughout and Keith White, who was 3rd, was the BMW silhouette, sandwiched between two G50s as he had Chris Everill on his tail throughout, sometimes only inches behind! At the end Mr White only had a few 10ths to spare from Chris. Keith Butcher was 5th in his G50 but he had Fabio and the VW Corrado silhouette on his tail, to keep him on his toes. This race was a slower one than race 1 and Fabio in 6th was the last driver on the lead lap. Andy Williams was 7th and he was well clear of the 8th place man, Jim Lyons!

Yes read that again, Jim Lyons finished in 8th place! Actually it was a mega drive from Jimbo, who had started from row 13, along with Peter Hills, and Chris Morris! However whilst Jim climbed to 8th and Chris Morris climbed to 16th place, (and won Class AT), sadly Peter only lasted 7 laps! Peter had seemed to pick up speed but much to his dismay he couldn’t make it to the finish. Sadly also Verity Banks as pulled off on the 7th lap, but Peter &Verity were the only 2 retirements.

Back in the race, Gareth Haycock and Colin Dunn got off to flyers! Initially Damian Longtano was 8th, with Gareth 9th and Ken James was 10th, Colin was 11th ahead of Bradley John (12th) with Tyrone Lufferelli (13th). Dave Scarmanga was 14th, but thanks to some ‘Fog-ex’ he now had a clear screen. Chris Morris likewise had a clear screen, and with some new rain tyres and a wet set up, was going great guns. ‘I don’t normally like driving in the wet, but this time it was good!’ Actually with the top 7 places mostly settled, it was the midfield that was providing all the excitement. Damian Longtano dramatically dropped down the order along with Gareth & Colin! Ken James came around on his own, whilst Tyrone, Bradley & Dave Scaramanga followed the flying Jim Lyons up the order! Jim passed Ken later to finish in 8th place with Ken in 9th, and was 3rd in class CS, leaving an interesting thought at what he might be able to do from a better starting position! Tyrone made the most of the situation and was 10th and the first Class BT car. He was some way clear of Bradley John (11th) who had Dave S on his tail throughout! Dave who finished in 12th place was the last driver to complete 13 laps and he reversed the Class CT win that Gareth Haycock had taken over him in Race 1. Gareth was 13th and he, Colin Dunn, Damian Longtano and Chris Morris had a monumental dice and there was only the odd 10th separating Gareth & Colin (13th & 14th ) and Damian & Chris (15th & 16th) at the end! Likewise only 2/10ths separated Susanne Jones in 17th (winner Class BS) and Daryl Radford in 18th. Roger Dowden was 19th with Mike Moss in 20th. Mike was very happy with his first experiences of the Welsh Championship and said ‘I have very much enjoyed racing with you this year. It’s a great race club, with clean racing and a friendly paddock atmosphere. The organisation is first class and I compliment you, Mike and Alan for doing such a great job. Shame you can’t do anything about the weather! I very much intend to come back next year!’

So the race ended with Jason winning by almost 16 seconds, and showing the kind of Rain-meister form that his dad showed in his 2wd days, as his race fastest lap was only 2 seconds slower than his dry practice time! After the VSCC showed they were on his wave length, by providing the Race winners with a large bottle of Red wine. Now all he needs is some Sangria, some Citrus Peel, Umbrellas etc and he can create a new Cocktail! More ‘Happiness in the Rain’ than ‘Sex on the Beach’! Our friends the Marshals choose the Driver of race in Race 1 as Tyrone Lufferelli and in Race 2 Susanne Jones!

The points show Jason is still leading but Tyrone looks like he’s ready to pounce if there are any slip-ups in last 2 races in the 2016 championship on October 16th! Also there are only a few points separating several other positions in the Top 10 and the Classes are just as tight so there is still a lot at stake.

Jason Davies hits the front! and then hits trouble! (photo by Steve Williams)

The Welsh Sports and Saloon Car Championship away-day rounds at Castle Combe went down a storm, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. There was beautiful sunshine and only a spot of drizzle that lasted all of 30 seconds. Plenty of Pembrey’s finest turned out in force with a 32 car grid for qualifying!

We were joined by some new faces in the invitation class with Adam Higgins in a Ginetta G50, and some of the Castle Combe saloons championship greats including Gary Prebble in one of the 2 Pug 205 gti’s which was flying! Gary qualified 7th on the grid behind mainly Class D Supercar/GT class car; and behind the very quick Jason Davies, who qualified 2nd behind David Krayem’s Ginetta G50 with only 0.367 of a second between them! And it was Jason’s first ever time behind the wheel at Castle Combe circuit.

Fabio Luffarelli resurrected his old space-framed VW Corrado. It’s been in hibernation for 10 years and although it has less power than his bike powered mini it was still 1.5 seconds quicker in qualifying! He hasn’t even raced it in 10 years, but I know which race car he will be bringing to Pembrey for rounds 7/8!

Andy Williams from Risca was going well, even with running out of revs before Avon rise and still getting to know his new gearbox/diff setup. He qualified 8th and 2nd in CS class. Although Andy is no spring chicken he showed this weekend that there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet, with some fantastic performances from Andy all weekend. 9th was Mike Tovey, who was making his debut in the series, in a BMW E36 M3. Mike is the son of Roy Tovey who raced with us a long time ago, in a Modified Mk 1 Ford Escort about the last time Fabio last raced his Corrado with us! Chris Everill, Damian Longatano, Dave Scaramanga, and visitor Mike Harris were next. Bradley John’ was 14th fastest in his Evo which has gone through some drastic changes going from looking relatively standard at Pembrey in May, to a fully fledged racer complete with aero package and big carbon fibre wing and a heap more power!

Although Bradley is a novice and new to racing this year has come on leaps and bounds, he’s getting quicker & quicker and will definitely be one to watch later in the season.

Paul Flinders’s MR2 was giving him issues again but once he’s worked out all the kinks it’s going to be animal.

The BT class guys/gals were out in force 6 BT cars on the grid, Susanne had gone into BS class to use up some semi slicks she had left over.

Daryl Radford qualified first in class and Tyrone Luffarelli 2nd . Willem Verhaak was having is first run of the year, and qualified 3rd . His MX has got quicker, with only 4 tenths of a second between him and Tyrone. Colin Dunn went steady qualifying 4th in class, he also found why his tyres were going off too quickly, as his tyre pressure gauge was reading 6psi out, causing him to over pressurise his tyres, losing vital seconds! Fortunately he has rectified this now.

Andrew Williams from Cardiff, broke his MG ZR earlier in the day by going out to play with the Castle Combe saloons, his variable cam timing solenoid packed in resulting in him running the car drastically down on power all weekend and leaving 29th on the grid.

The MG ZR of Verity Banks was plagued by a intermittent misfire all weekend, Tony the mechanic tried using all at his disposal to try fixing it, but to no avail!

Race 1 – Our first race was cut down to 13 mins due to a big off in races earlier in the day.

On the Green Flag Lap Jasons’ real steel Cossie is flanked by a bevy of GRP GTs! (photo by Steve Williams)

As they all came round on the green flag lap, I was spectating from Tower Corner. You get a excellent view of the cars coming through Hammerdown, through Tower and around Bobbies. It was fabulous seeing such a strong turn out from the WSSCC with lot of different cars and different classes, everything from your average road going saloons to kit cars and even a handful of GT cars, great for the spectators to watch as well! There are not many championships with so much variety on the track at the same time.

The order of the front 10 cars was Ginetta, Ford saloon, Ginetta, BMW spaceframed silhouette, VW spaceframed silhouette, (Keith Butcher) Ginetta, Peugeot hatchback, Ford saloon, BMW Saloon, and with Chris Everils’ Ginetta in 10th! Now can you think of anywhere else you see that other than the Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Championship!

On the first lap, David Krayem lead the pack round in a neat uniformed line, with no real position changes from the sector of circuit I was viewing from. Verity’s MG sounded ill from lap one, struggling round with the distinct sound of a misfire, as if it was running on only 2 of the 4 cylinders. On Lap 2 David K, Jason M & Adam H had broken away from the pack slightly, with Keiths BMW a few car lengths back in 4th, Andy’s Sierra Cosworth in 5th sounded meaty, as he plowed through Tower, being trailed by Fabio in the Corrado. The pair of Pugs (Peugeots) were grouped together having their own battle. Daryl had pulled away from Tyrone and was leading the BT class. On Lap 3, the front 3 had opened up a 2sec gap from Keith’s BMW and after a massive gap was 5th place Andy Williams with Chris Everill’s Ginetta hot on his tail.

Bradley John made up a few positions and was sandwiched between the 2 Pug 205s. Daryl had opened up the gap in BT but I think Tyrone as being held up fighting with the Golf of Gareth Haycock. Chris Morris, whose car hadn’t even been started since December until this meeting, came round Tower glued to the back of the 106 of Mike Good.

Huge WSSCC mid-field dice! (photo by Steve Williams)

On Lap 4, the top 5 stayed the same but Fabio lost a position to Keith Butcher in the Ginetta, which Keith had bought to replace his Primera and Fabio was now in 7th Place. Bradley John moved up to 10th. Susanne was tailing Willem’s MX5, trying to make a move to get passed , and Chris Morris had got passed Mike Good’s 106! On Lap 5, Jason Davies in his turbo Ford Cosworth managed to get passed Dave Krayem and was leading the race going into Tower. Back markers held Keith White up going into Tower in a solid 4th with no one in sight to challenge him for the position. Alan Smith, with a bit of 4 wheels on the grass, passed Andrew William’s MG on the inside at Tower, taking full advantage of big Keith passing!

Andy ‘Risca’ Williams non-turbo Sierra Cosworth lost a position to Chris Everill and was now in 6th with Keith Butcher also having a pop at Andy going into Bobbies. Damien Longatano was now up into 11th in his Westfield, after passing both of the 205s.

There was a huge gap between 1st, 2nd, 3rd in class BT. Susanne managed to make a move on Willem and is now in front!

On Lap 6 it all changed at the front as the Seirra of Jason Davies developed a fault, as the cockpit filled with a cloud of smoke! Jason immediately stopped racing and went into limp home mode to try to make it to the end of the race and score as many points as he could! Later it was found that the oil return pipe from the turbo had broken and with the car leaving a trail of smoke behind him, Jason had dropped back to eventually finish in 9th place overall, and 3rd in class. Jason confirmed after the race ‘At the end there was just enough oil left to prevent the engine from being damaged!’

Andy in the Sierra Cosworth had regained the position back from Chris Everills’ Ginetta. As Tyrone came through Tower he was right on the limit, and it was clear he’d been pushing hard and playing catch up, as the gap between him and Daryl was closing up! Paul Flinders had drastically slowed up as the car continued giving him problems.

Wileem v Susanne! Dice of the Day? (photo by Steve Williams)

Willem had traded places with Susanne again! These 2 seater rear wheel drive sporty road cars seemed to be in a race of their own, not being more than a cars length apart every lap from the start!

By Lap 7 Jason had significantly dropped back, and now Keith White’s BMW was looking to get passed him. Colin Dunn and Roger Good were battling away in the middle of the pack.

Andy’s Cosworth was still going strong and holding off the Ginetta G50 pair of Chris+ Keith.

Lap 8 and Krayem & Higgins came through Tower chasing one another in 1st/2nd.

Susanne and Willem had yet again changed places, and now Susanne had used them semi slicks to her advantage pulling a few car lengths away. Although the two of them were in different classes, it was still good fun watching them fighting it out!

Damiens Westfield came passed very slowly, and appeared to have issues and was limping back to the pits. Jason had now dropped back to fourth as he was nursing around trying his best to salvage some championship points and mainly make sure he gets his turbocharged Cosworth home. But Andy had other ideas, and he had him in his sights and was gaining ground on Jason’s poorly Cosworth. Bradley John in his Evo was closing the gap to Mike Tovey’s BMW E36 M3, both cars going very well.

Lap 9 and both Ginettas were still in the lead, with Higgins trying to find a way passed Krayem.

Daryl’s Civic locked up into Bobbies, having to use the escape lane, giving Tyrone precious time to gain ground on him and close the gap! Keith Butcher’s Ginetta was passed Andy’s Cosworth and was making easy pickings of Jason’s damaged Cossie. Although Jason’s car wasn’t in the best of health, it was still racing and more importantly still 1st in class Cs.

On Lap 10, David Krayem had pulled away massively from Higgins, as Adam appeared to be having issues and no longer at full race speed. Daryl and Tyrone were only a few car lengths apart going into Tower but had the Haycock Golf between them. By this lap Andy Williams, Chris Everall and Bradley John had managed to get passed Jason’s Cosworth, but although he was now in 3rd in Class CS he had to keep going to try keep his points lead in the championship. It appeared Roger Goods VW Lupo and Verity’s MG had both retired.

On the Lap 11, the last lap, David Krayem had a good 5 second lead on Adam Higgins and was looking to walk the rest of this race with no one to challenge him for 1st overall.

As they crossed the line the final positions were; Overall win David Krayam (class D winner). 2nd Adam Higgins, 3rd Keith white (2nd class D). 4th Keith butcher (3rd class D).5th Andy Williams (well deserved 1st in Class CS). 6th Chris everall (4th class D) 7th Fabio luffarelli ( 5th class D) . 8th Bradley John (2nd class CS). Excellent driving from the novice, quicker every lap and learning very fast. Well done! 9th was Jason Davies (3rd in Class CS) Jason did very well to hang on to 3rd in class, but scored an extra point for the fastest lap in his class! It was very unfortunate the car failed him, as he drove excellently and could have potentially won. He was Driver of the Race, in my eyes, keeping the GT cars at bay with no previous track experience either! Whatever this Cosworth throws at him, he deals with it and makes it work. Well done Jason and remember every point counts!

After race 1 there was mixed emotions in the WSSCC paddock, Most were fettling with their race cars and preparing for race 2 and having a spot of lunch and soaking up the lovely weather we had been blessed with.Unfortunately this was not the case for everyone! The Davies camp were hard at work getting Jason Davies Cossie cleaned up and ready to race in race 2. Andy ‘Risca’ Williams had been pushing so hard in race one he had worn his NSR rear brake pad down to the metal, so was rushing to replace these ready for his next outing.

Paul Flinders had to unfortunately retire his MR2 for the rest of the day and began to pack up, as did Damian Longotano, others to retire after race 1 were Roger Good in the VW Lupo and Kieren Simmons in the Ford Fiesta. Verity’s mechanic Tony was scratching his head a bit, as the misfire that Verity had in race 1, had fixed itself, leaving him baffled and suspecting it was either coil pack or bad wiring connection on the harness! He replaced plugs, leads, coil packs and wiring loom just to be on the safe side.

During the break between WSSCC races there were other incidents that meant that the WSSCC last race would be shortened to 13 minutes, but due to strict regulations about no noise at castle combe circuit after 6:30 pm, it was going to be more like 8 minutes if we were lucky!

Fabio Luffarelli started from the back of the grid, due to transmission issues in the Corrado, and he would be out in his bike powered Mini silhouette. The grid of 26 cars waited patiently in the pits eager to get out there and race, I bet it was rather warm in those cars with the drivers in full race suits, as even at 6pm it was still very hot.

So they set off straight into the rolling start lap, and as they came through Camp Corner for the first time waiting for the lights to go out, David Krayem and Higgins were side by side with Keith White, Andy Williams and Chris Everill all in a little group at the front, with close to 2000bhp between them and all eager to plant their right foot!

Jason, Bradley and Mike Tovey were a few car lengths, behind in another tight group of cars, Gary Prebble was also nearby, but the rest of the pack were a few seconds behind! The gap seemed huge, not sure what happened there. So they were all off safely and racing. Daryl had a good lead on Tyrone and Susanne and Willem were side by side again, as they came through Camp Corner. Fabio in the bike engine Mini came storming through from the back, making up 3 places before he’d even reached the pit wall! As they approached Camp Corner at the end of lap 1 Krayem had a good 2 second lead on rival Higgins, Keith managed to slip his BMW down the inside of Higgins going into Camp putting him into 2nd.

Jason’s car had sprung into life and had jumped up, passing Andy’s Cosworth to move into 5th place. The next victim to fall to Jason’s Cosworth was Mike Tovey’s BMW, Andy was in 6th with Bradley John following close behind in 7th. Brad was then being chased by Prebble’s 205. Dave Scaramanga was in 9th and was battling with Mike Harris in the other Pug 205 gti.

Daryl Radford was 1st in Class BT, but had either lost a bit of pace or had issues, or was it that Tyrone’s screaming 106 was gunning for him as the gap was down to a only a few car lengths now. Willem came around in 14th and 3rd in class but Susanne’s Lotus Elise was nowhere to be seen, the Mazda RX8 of Anthony Week’s was about to be passed by Fabio who had made up several place in just one lap, MY GOD that mini really does shift! Chris Morris followed by Colin Dunn came around in 17th & 18th follow by the Susanne’s Lotus which was not well at all (later found out she had been suffering with an electrical fault).

Lap 2 and Krayem had a gigantic lead, and as long as he played his cards right it looked as if he had this one in the bag! Keith White had given the position back to Adam Higgins in the Ginetta. Higgins had a few seconds lead over the 3rd place driver Chris Everill who had also taken a place off Keith White’s BMW. Jason Davies was still going strong, being only a few car lengths behind Keith. Andy Williams was chasing Mike Tovey in his M3 who had managed to steal 5th from him, not far behind was the big winged Evo of Bradley John.

It appeared we had lost Mike Harris’ 205 somewhere around the circuit as the only 205 gti left was Gary Prebble’s who came through Camp on lap 2. Keith Butcher’s Ginetta retired back to the pits to join Mike & Gareth Haycock as early retirments!. The action between Tyrone and Daryl was heating up. They were less than a cars length apart coming through camp and up the pit straight. Fabio was catching up with his son Tyrone, and would undoubtedly be passed him by the time they reach Quarry Corner. Willem was in a solid 3rd in class position whilst Susanne was still trying her best to keep the Elise going.

Lap 3 and Jason had moved up to 4th position and Andy had spun over the other side of the circuit, and then brought his Sapphire Cosworth in to retire (In the paddock I spoke to him later on and he explained that he had lost a feed to the water temperature gauge, and preferred to fight another day than rebuild a very expensive race engine). Bradley John had got past Mike (Son of Roy Tovey), but Tovey was not going to let him keep it that easily as they came through Camp Corner bumper to bumper. Gary Prebble was still motoring on but there was no one to challenge him insight. Tyrone was now 1st in class as Daryl was unfortunately having issues and retired the Civic Type R to complete list of retired cars!

Lap 4 and Higgins had made up some ground on Krayem, but was still safe for now and had a 2 second lead at this moment in time. Keith White was in 3rd but too far behind to play catch up now. Jason’s car was obviously having issues again, (this time it was electrical) as he had dropped back into 7th position behind Bradley and Mike Tovey, and Gary Prebble was now hot on Jason’s heels. Verity’s car was still out there, but still not perfect and was running in dead last place, fingers crossed they sort that issue out before the next outing at Pembrey.

Fabio was now up to 9th position and his Mini sounded absolutely beautiful as he came around Camp for the 4th time, using every last rev that bike engine has to offer! Tyrone was now running in his Dad’s exhaust fumes, but was happy, sat in 1st in BT class and 11th overall and had plenty of breathing space to bring her home.

Willem was about 4 seconds behind Tyrone and had his work cut out if he was to challenge for 1st in class BT. Chris Morris came through in 12th followed by the RX8 of Anthony Weeks who ran out of talent on this lap, and spun 360 degrees going into Camp! (That’s harsh Nick. Those RX8s are known as rotaries! lol – Ed) Luckily he saved it and got on his way quickly only losing one place to Colin Dunn’s Clio.

Lap 5 and Dave Krayem and Adam Higgins had bunched up and Krayem now had to keep him at bay. Keith White still in a solid 3rd, Chris Everill was chasing Keith for 4th position, and Bradley John’s Evo was motoring around in 5th. It looks as though he has got used to that Evo of his, this weekend.

Jason limped around in 10th position. He hasn’t had the best of weekends, but still leads the championship on points, having taken 2 extra points, for the fastest lap in both races! Although the championship is still up for grabs and I think it will go down to the last race in October, EXCITING STUFF!

Lap 6 – Last Lap Fabio was now chasing down Jason, Fabio started in 26th position on the grid and 6 laps later he is in 11th position, that is a lot of overtaking! The front runners Krayem and Higgins were still fighting for 1st, as were Keith and Chris also fighting over the last podium spot. As they all crossed the line 21 cars finished 5 DNFs with the final positions as follows:-

21st Verity Banks (6th in class BT) Fabulous weekend with its mix of ups and downs, but I must say it is the most fun I have had at a race circuit without being behind the wheel, in a long time.

Great racing from all our racers with plenty of competitive driving, and lots of thrills and most importantly not many spills at least from our championship. Shame the both of our races were cut short, but I am sure the WSSCC will be in talks with Castle Combe Circuit to make sure we get our monies worth at our next meeting there in the 2017 season.

Dave Krayem heads Adam Higgins on their way to a Ginetta 1-2! (Photo by Steve Williams)

Race 2 report After race 1 there was mixed emotions in the WSSCC paddock, Most were fettling with their race cars and preparing for race 2 and having a spot of lunch and soaking up the lovely weather we had been blessed with.Unfortunately this was not the case for everyone! The Davies camp were hard at work getting Jason Davies Cossie cleaned up and ready to race in race 2.Andy ‘Risca’ Williams had been pushing so hard in race one he had worn his NSR rear brake pad down to the metal, so was rushing to replace these ready for his next outing.

Paul Flinders had to unfortunately retire his MR2 for the rest of the day and began to pack up, as did Damian Longotano, others to retire after race 1 were Roger Good in the VW Lupo and Kieren Simmons in the Ford Fiesta. Verity’s mechanic Tony was scratching his head a bit, as the misfire that Verity had in race 1, had fixed itself, leaving him baffled and suspecting it was either coil pack or bad wiring connection on the harness! He replaced plugs, leads, coil packs and wiring loom just to be on the safe side.

During the break between WSSCC races there were other incidents that meant that the WSSCC last race would be shortened to 13 minutes, but due to strict regulations about no noise at castle combe circuit after 6:30 pm, it was going to be more like 8 minutes if we were lucky!

Fabio Luffarelli started from the back of the grid, due to transmission issues in the Corrado, and he would be out in his bike powered Mini silhouette. The grid of 26 cars waited patiently in the pits eager to get out there and race, I bet it was rather warm in those cars with the drivers in full race suits, as even at 6pm it was still very hot.

So they set off straight into the rolling start lap, and as they came through Camp Corner for the first time waiting for the lights to go out, David Krayem and Higgins were side by side with Keith White, Andy Williams and Chris Everill all in a little group at the front, with close to 2000bhp between them and all eager to plant their right foot!

Bradley John first time win! (Photo by Steve Williams)

Jason, Bradley and Mike Tovey were a few car lengths, behind in another tight group of cars, Gary Prebble was also nearby, but the rest of the pack were a few seconds behind! The gap seemed huge, not sure what happened there. So they were all off safely and racing. Daryl had a good lead on Tyrone and Susanne and Willem were side by side again, as they came through Camp Corner. Fabio in the bike engine Mini came storming through from the back, making up 3 places before he’d even reached the pit wall! As they approached Camp Corner at the end of lap 1 Krayem had a good 2 second lead on rival Higgins, Keith managed to slip his BMW down the inside of Higgins going into Camp putting him into 2nd.

Jason’s car had sprung into life and had jumped up, passing Andy’s Cosworth to move into 5th place. The next victim to fall to Jason’s Cosworth was Mike Tovey’s BMW, Andy was in 6th with Bradley John following close behind in 7th. Brad was then being chased by Prebble’s 205. Dave Scaramanga was in 9th and was battling with Mike Harris in the other Pug 205 gti.

Daryl Radford was 1st in Class BT, but had either lost a bit of pace or had issues, or was it that Tyrone’s screaming 106 was gunning for him as the gap was down to a only a few car lengths now. Willem came around in 14th and 3rd in class but Susanne’s Lotus Elise was nowhere to be seen, the Mazda RX8 of Anthony Week’s was about to be passed by Fabio who had made up several place in just one lap, MY GOD that mini really does shift! Chris Morris followed by Colin Dunn came around in 17th & 18th follow by the Susanne’s Lotus which was not well at all (later found out she had been suffering with an electrical fault).

Lap 2 and Krayem had a gigantic lead, and as long as he played his cards right it looked as if he had this one in the bag! Keith White had given the position back to Adam Higgins in the Ginetta. Higgins had a few seconds lead over the 3rd place driver Chris Everill who had also taken a place off Keith White’s BMW. Jason Davies was still going strong, being only a few car lengths behind Keith. Andy Williams was chasing Mike Tovey in his M3 who had managed to steal 5th from him, not far behind was the big winged Evo of Bradley John.

It appeared we had lost Mike Harris’ 205 somewhere around the circuit as the only 205 gti left was Gary Prebble’s who came through Camp on lap 2. Keith Butcher’s Ginetta retired back to the pits to join Mike & Gareth Haycock as early retirments!. The action between Tyrone and Daryl was heating up. They were less than a cars length apart coming through camp and up the pit straight. Fabio was catching up with his son Tyrone, and would undoubtedly be passed him by the time they reach Quarry Corner. Willem was in a solid 3rd in class position whilst Susanne was still trying her best to keep the Elise going.

Lap 3 and Jason had moved up to 4th position and Andy had spun over the other side of the circuit, and then brought his Sapphire Cosworth in to retire ( I spoke to him later on in the paddock, and he explained that he had lost a feed to the water temperature gauge, and preferred to fight another day than rebuild a very expensive race engine). Bradley John had got past Mike Tovey (Son of Roy Tovey who raced with us a long time ago), but Mike was not going to let him keep it that easily, as they came through Camp Corner bumper to bumper. Gary Prebble was still motoring on but there was no one to challenge him insight. Tyrone was now 1st in class as Daryl was unfortunately having issues and retired the Civic Type R to complete list of retired cars!

Lap 4 and Higgins had made up some ground on Krayem, but was still safe for now and had a 2 second lead at this moment in time. Keith White was in 3rd but too far behind to play catch up now. Jason’s car was obviously having issues again, as he had dropped back into 7th position behind Bradley and Mike Tovey, and Gary Prebble was now hot on Jason’s heels. Verity’s car was still out there, but still not perfect and was running in dead last place, fingers crossed they sort that issue out before the next outing at Pembrey.

Fabio was now up to 9th position and his Mini sounded absolutely beautiful as he came around Camp for the 4th time, using every last rev that bike engine has to offer! Tyrone was now running in his Dad’s exhaust fumes, but was happy sat in 1st in BT class and 11th overall and had plenty of breathing space to bring her home.

Willem was about 4 seconds behind Tyrone and had his work cut out if he was to challenge for 1st in class BT.

Chris Morris came through in 12th followed by the RX8 of Anthony Weeks, who ran out of talent on this lap, and spun 360 degrees going into Camp! (That’s harsh Nick. Those RX8s are known as rotaries! lol – Ed) Luckily he saved it and got on his way quickly, only losing one place to Colin Dunn’s Clio.

Lap 5 and Dave Krayem and Adam Higgins had bunched up and Krayem now had to keep him at bay. Keith White still in a solid 3rd, Chris Everill was chasing Keith for 4th position, and Bradley John’s Evo was motoring around in 5th. It looks as though he has got used to that Evo of his, this weekend.

Jason limped around in 10th position. He hasn’t had the best of weekends, but still leads the championship on points. Although the championship is still up for grabs and I think it will go down to the last race in October, EXCITING STUFF!

Lap 6 – Last Lap Fabio was now chasing down Jason, Fabio started in 26th position on the grid and 6 laps later he is in 11th position, that is a lot of overtaking! The front runners Krayem and Higgins were still fighting for 1st, as were Keith and Chris also fighting over the last podium spot. As they all crossed the line 21 cars finished 5 DNFs with the final positions as follows:-

Fabulous weekend with its mix of ups and downs, but I must say it is the most fun I have had at a race circuit without being behind the wheel in a long time.

Great racing from all our racers with plenty of competitive driving, and lots of thrills and most importantly not many spills at least from our championship. Shame the both of our races were cut short, but I am sure the WSSCC will be in talks with Castle Combe Circuit to make sure we get our monies worth at our next meeting there in the 2017 season.

I look forward to seeing you all at Pembrey in a few weeks, so lock yourselves in your garages and get preparing as this is no one-horse race and with only four races left, it is anyone’s championship and it is going to get interesting. Don’t forget to play your joker card, the WSSCC is heating up and getting lots of support, I wonder how big the 2017 season grids will be?

All I know, is that I am itching to get my race car finished so I can get back out there and enjoy it with you all.

At the 3rd race of the championship it was as tight as ever at the front with Keith White taking pole for class D with only 4 one hundredths of a second in front of a chasing Jason Davies in the Ford Sierra Cosworth leading CS.
A similar gap to the Ginetta of Chris Everill means it looked like a close battle was likely in the race.

Tyrone Luffarelli led class BT with an impressive 1.08 and Peter Hills led class AS in the Mini.
Dave Scaramanga was getting to grips with a new car to him, an orange VW Polo.
Meanwhile class CT was to be led by newcomer Gareth Haycock and class AT by Holly Welch.
Daryl Radford had to drop out early with a failing wheel leaving him at the back with the Evo of John Bradley who didn’t make it out for qualifying.

Round 3 – Race 15 minutes plus 1 lap

We had two non starters for the race, the minis of Ian Fraser and Peter Hills who found water in the cylinders after qualifying.

As Race 1 got under way Keith and Jason led a very controlled start only accelerating as they crossed the start line with Jason edging ahead of Keith as they approached hatchets. At the end of lap one it was Jason, Keith and Chris fighting hard for the lead.

Lap 2 saw Andy Williams in his Sapphire 2500 battling with Fabio with Andy eventually getting past into hatchets. It was short lived as he went too deep with Fabio regaining the place and then able to gradually pull away.
Hopes were high for Rhodri and his civic turbo which was running well until it appeared to let go with an explosion of smoke covering the track from Honda down to the start line. Richard Francis had a clear view and made the decision to avoid what he couldn’t see as well as Dave Scaramanga and spun the car off to the side of the track. Richard has posted a great video of the incident.

Lap 3 continued the excitement with Gareth Haycock who was in his first ever race finding the limits of grip at spitfires and spinning his VW Golf.
Meanwhile Paul Flinders unfortunately had to pull off into the pits.
Class BT didn’t disappoint with some exciting mid race battles. Daryl Radford eventually got by Colin Dunn for 2nd in class.
Andy Long in the second EP3 was continuing to battle with Gareth Haycock and then with Richard Francis.
At mid race the front runners finding themselves only 3 seconds apart with Jason still leading.
Another retirement on lap 8 as Holly found herself having to park on the outside of Spitifres with a possible head gasket failure.
Class BT problems were not over yet with Verity Banks having a solid race but lacking power from the rover engine. Great to see Verity, a long time supporter of the championship back after a years out of racing.
As the race approached the final few laps Jason maintained his lead with Keith deciding to ease off allowing the gap to increase to 9.4 seconds.
It was there Jason remained taking the chequered flag and winning round 3 with Keith 2nd (leading class D) and Chris Everill’s G50 in 3rd.
Tyrone maintained his excellent pace to take class BT with another fastest lap, narrowly ahead of Dave Scaramanga who took a class CT win. Roger Dowden was the class AS winner with Andy Long making the last of the class winners for BS.

Post race Jason revealed that he was able to run the engine at full power for the first time and was clearly enjoying the Sierra. Jason said he was able to put in some fast laps at the end despite the tyres going off.
Newcomer Gareth Haycock told us he is planning on staying with the WSSCC for the whole season and is hoping for more after he resolves an overheating brakes problem.
Colin Dunn celebrated his birthday with a 3rd in class BT

Driver of the race for Race 1 went to Bradley John in the Evo who despite starting last battled through to a great 7th place.

Race 2

Race 2

Ahead of race 2 the WRDA and WSSCC cars paid a fitting tribute to Pembrey Marshall, Russ Morgan who sadly passed away earlier that week. All cars lined up on the grid and with engines turned off joined the marshals and spectators in a minutes silence to remember Russ.
Liam, Russ’s son, also a member of the Pembrey marshal family was on the grid and everyone’s thoughts were with him and his family.

Before race 2 got underway it was clear Race 1 had had taken its toll with Holly Welch (HGF), Paul Flinders (oil leak), Rhodri (water in the cylinders), Damian Longtano (HGF) and Andy Long all non-starters.

Round 4 – Race 2 15 minutes plus 1 lap.

Lap 1 started in much the same fashion as the earlier race although with Keith going around the outside into Hatchets, Jason held him off until Brooklands where Keith took the inside line, momentarily taking the lead until the Cosworth engine managed to out drag him taking the lead back before Honda. The next few laps held some exciting moments for both drivers and crowd as both cars on the limit battled hard.
If proof were needed on lap 4 Jason clearly driving on the edge lost some traction taking the Sierra sideways out of Honda allowing Keith his opportunity to get alongside and pass into Hatchets.
The MG of Andy Williams (yes we have two Andy Williams) and Richard Francis in his Saxo had a couple of close laps with Richard diving up the inside of Andy into Hatchets only to lock up his brakes and somehow avoiding contact, with Andy coming out ahead.
Keith White maintained the lead through the backmarkers and a string of blue flags displayed by the hardworking marshals. This time it was Keith who maintained his lead with Jason slowing considerably by lap 10 and retiring with wheel bearing issues on the last lap.
So Keith takes the win with Chris Everill second and Fabio Luffarelli third in the Mini.
Ken James was pleased to take the class CS win ahead of Jason and having played his joker which could prove to be a valuable judgment later in the season. Fabio’s son Tyrone again took the class BT win having another great race keeping Bradley John on his toes in the Evo, ending up just 0.5 seconds behind him across the line.
Dave Scaramanga was first in class CT and a second class AS win for Roger Dowden in the familiar yellow Davrian.

Driver of Race 2 was Fabio who said his car was performing better in this race after a few changes with more to come from the car for the next race.

At the end of the day drivers awards were handed out by Pembrey marshal Liam Morgan including the newcomer award to Gareth Haycock in his first race and taking second in class CT.

A big thanks to Susanne Jones for taking notes in the absence of our usual intrepid reported Rob.

Good size grid & Good racing for the first rounds in the 2016 Welsh Championship! Race 1 & Race 2 reports!

Pembrey – Sunday April 24th – Spring Truck-Fest – Entry & Qualifying

On a day that was sunny but with a cold breeze, there was a mixture of regulars, returnees, and several newcomers having their first races.

The first few rows had a familiar look with Keith White and his BMW Z4 Silhouette on Pole with a time of 62.011. Jason Davies was only 7/10ths behind with his Class CS Ford Sierra Cossie. Jason was hoping to make a real charge for the 2016 title and his car had a few aero tweeks and a new stronger engine, but more of that later! The first of the Class CS West Wales Fresh Air Brigade (WW Fab), was Damian Logotano in 3rd place in his Westfield on 63.542. Damian, a former grass-tracker, has come a long way since his race debut in 2014, which must be an inspiration to those drivers making their debuts now! Neil Watts was 4th with his Westfield. Ken James and his Locost was the 3rd member of the WW FAB in 5th place. In 6th place was Fabio Lufferelli and his Moto-Mini.

The first of the returnees in 7th place was Chris Everill in a Ginetta, but this was a new G50, and Chris was just getting used to it. Rhodri Jenkins and his turbo Civic joined Chris on row 4, with Jim Lyons next up. Jim, another returnee, had been burning the midnight oil getting his car ready, and his turbo Mini had a new nice paint job and a big rear wing! Roger Dowden joined Jim on row 5 and was the first of the Class AS runners. On Row 6 was Bradley John, our first newcomer with his nice black Mitsubishi Evo. Bradley had done some quad bike racing and was moving up from track days to actual racing. ‘On some track-days there isn’t anybody to play with’ 11th fastest on your debut is a promising start. Leading Class BT was Daryl Radford whose Honda Civic was looking nice in it new paint job.

On Row 7 Dave Scarmanga had changed tyres on his VW Vento and was now on his own in Class CT! Alongside was Paul Flinders who was running the turbo on his MR2 in low boost mode. On row 8 Susanne Jones was trying to co-ordinate her ensemble with the colour of the Originia Lotus Elise. Susanne no longer needs to have a yellow and black cross on her car, and was 2nd in Class BT, just ahead of our 2nd newcomer Colin Lewis in his Class BT Clio who was also having his first race. Colin is a former Grass-tracker.

On row 9 was Endaf Owens and his Mini Miglia alongside Colin Dunn and his Williams Clio.

Behind them on row 10 was our 3rd and final newcomer Richard Francis. Richard has a long history associated with Pembrey, and has done some karting, but this was his first time to race on the track. Richard was driving a Citroën Saxo and was obviously finding his feet, but there was a lot of sage advice on offer in the paddock. Alongside him was Andrew Williams and his MG ZR. On Row 11 it was the walking wounded of Tyrone Lufferrlli and Peter Hills. Peter found his engine overheating, and having already changed the head gasket, he feared another more serious engine problem was brewing and so he elected to miss the race and went to help his fellow Vale resident Jim Lyons, but more of that later! On the final rows were Graham Welch (Rover 200) Alan Smith and his Ford KA who was ahead of Holly Welch who now had her own car, a Vauxhall Nova.

In the lunch break it was nice to catch up with a few friends, including Blake Edwards who was our guest and was catching up with some old friends. Blake was the original Welsh Sports & Saloon Car Champion (under MSA rules in 1991 + 1990 as a one race shoot-out).

It was also nice to see Nick Rocke and his family as well. Also at the circuit was Andy Williams, who was among the WRDA members who answered the call from the organisers, the BARC, for some safety car drivers. Andy’s car was not ready, so he was happy to help.

There was a lot of head scratching among the ranks of the turbo cars, with almost everyone suffering from some sort of woe or another. No-one was immune, with Jason finding a loss of Oil and some water, and thought that may have been due to the improved breathing rather than actual turbo boost. Rhodri, with Alvin on hand, was trying to figure out how and where his oil was going under pressure. Paul Flinders was trying to run with as little boost as possible but Jim Lyons, who was in an intense hard working post practice session, to try and fix his windscreen and other things, had found he had no boost due to software fault!

Over in the left field (or was that the West-Field), among the FAB brigade there were no such worries and Evan Watts was showing some football skills. Evan who is 11, is a goalkeeper in the Swansea City Academy, and is in the Welsh Squad for his age group. Not only that, but he is in the Welsh Junior Cricket team too! Dad Neil is very supportive and will do well to squeeze in some racing from time to time!

Richard Francis got some good advice from Alvin Powell on how to look at his first season. ‘Don’t worry about going quickly at first. Get to know your car, and learn the circuit. You can think about driving quickly later but take some time to gain experience’

The race – 15 minutes plus 1 lap – Rolling Start

Following a pep talk from Mike Skelton, the grid approached the lights with Keith & Jason leading the way around Honda curve towards the lights. As the lights showing green everyone started racing, and Jason lead towards Hatchets. However Keith emerged in the lead, but with Jason on very close company!

As the leading duo traded lap times, Paul Flinders had already departed on lap 1 with a mystery misfire. Jim Lyons only lasted 2 laps until he went straight on at Hatchets, when the drivers-side trackrod arm snapped and the wheel departed! This left Jim with no brakes & skating along on the cars floor! This was unfortunate for Endaf Owens, who was just turning into the corner, when he was collected by Jims’ toboggan. Just as well they are mates! Although this ended both their races, Endaf’s car was easily fettled. Jims’ however needed a lot of work, and some help from Peter Hills, just to get it on the trailer and ready for home! (Roger Dowden had a Grandstand seat to all this drama! ‘I’m glad I decided not to take the inside line!’). Colin Lewis, the 3rd of the Endaf’s Paddock group, was also having an exciting 1st lap in his Class BT Clio, losing it on the entry to Honda Curve, throwing up some grass during his spin! Colin is a former Grass-tracker! Having dropped a few places. Colin linked up with fellow debutant Richard Frances and they pulled each up to 13th & 14th places by the end. Damian Longatono was another to exit early on, when his gear lever came off in his hands. There were a few laps when no-one retired, but then Rhodri exited on lap 6 when his turbo problems got worse. Tyrone Lufferreli dropped out 2 laps later, having been unable to feature in his usual fashion, after being hampered with problems with his new gearbox.

Fabio and Chris Everill were this close in the closing laps!

Back at the front Keith was holding a slim lead from Jason, which he extended to almost 2 seconds whilst lapping traffic. However with a clear track, Jason zoomed in and began to harass Keith for the lead, swooping by in impressive fashion at the paddock turn! On the next lap Keith spun at Brooklands, which handed a 20 second lead to Jason, which he was able to manage to the end, winning by over 16 seconds! Later it emerged that Keith had lost his clutch, and thought this was caused by a snapped clutch cable! Neil Watts, and Ken James were 3rd & 4th initially, although Ken stopped on the 14th lap when almost in sight of the end ,with a complete loss of drive! Fabio Lufferrli was 4th early on but Chris Everill was getting the feel of his new G50 and moved past Fabio at about the half way stage. Chris moved up into 3rd place to threaten Neil, with Fabio making his presence felt. All 3 of them put in their own fastest laps of the race late on, Neil just holding onto3rd with Chris & Fabio in very close attendance. Afterwards Chris’ crew joked that Fabio should pay them some petrol money as they had towed him around for the last few laps!

In 6th place, and 1 Lap down was Roger Dowden, who after his grandstand view of Jim & Endafs accident, had a quiet race to win Class AS, but he had Dave Scaramanga in close attendance through-out. Daryl Radford was 8th and totally dominated Class BT in his nice looking repanelled Civic, after he had passed debutant Bradley John. Bradley had the satisfaction of a 9th place finish and being the last runner on 15 laps!

Susanne Jones got a good start and it took some time for Colin Dunn to get by into 10th place and 2nd in BT. Susanne Jones was 11th and 3rd in BT. It was BT all the way from 10th to 13th with Andrew Williams 12th (4th in BT) and Colin Lewis 13th (5th in BT). Richard Francis was 14th and 2nd in Class AS. Alan Smith was 15th and Graham & Holly Welch were the final runners.

In the post-race interview Jason confirmed ‘It was a cracking battle, you’ll always have a good battle with Keith. He’s a real hard charger and you will always have good clean battle with him. We’ve done a lot of aero-work to balance the car out so we can have more corner speed to keep with him. We had a problem in practice which means we can’t run on full boost so we’re about 80 bhp down on what we might have. It would have made my life easier, but no, I had to fight for that one!’ Keith confirmed his spin was down to his lack of clutch ‘I was trying to balance the revs, but I went down to quickly and it locked the back wheels. So around I went!

In the paddock, Ken James discovered that his lack of drive was down to a broken Crown Wheel & Pinion on his Locost, and Keith White found that his clutch problem was not simply down to a broken cable, and he would have to miss the 2nd race. Tyrone Lufferellis’ problems seemed to be down to his new gearbox, so Fabio and Tyrone were busy swapping it for the old one! Jason and his dad found that the rear engine oil seal was leaking, but they reckoned that by reducing the boost still further, there might be some good points to be gained, as of Jasons’ Class rivals, only Neil Watts was alongside, Bradley John was back a few rows and Damian Longotano was starting from the back.

Race 2 15 minutes plus 1 lap – Rolling Start

So as the lights changed, Chris Everill shot into the lead with Fabio getting the drop on Jason, who was already in ‘limp home mode’. Behind the first few cars however it was mayhem! Neil Watts went for a gear and found he had no drive! (It later turned out that bolts on crown wheel had sheared! As Neil said- ‘What a time for them to let go, after all the practice starts done to heat the rear tyres up!’) This left Neil in a quandary! He was unable to signal something was wrong in the time honoured fashion of waving an arm in the air, as under MSA rules, open cockpit drivers have to have their arms tethered so they are part of the seat belts! So

he could stay where he was, but he would then be a target for the rest of the pack, or try to drift towards the pit-wall! Drifting towards the pit-wall was the option that he chose, but that brought the Westfield right into the path of Dave Scarmangas Vento which was legitimately charging ahead at full throttle to get a good start. ‘I wanted get as close as I could to Fabio whilst staying ahead of Tyrone!’

The front wheel of Neils’ stricken car hit Daves Vento just by the passenger side door and submarined under, causing the Vento to tip-up by almost 90%, giving the pit crew and spectators an unexpected view of his roof! The Vento then crashed to the ground, the force ripping off Daves’ passenger side front wheel, which went bouncing down the track, right into the windscreen of Susanne Jones Elise! The impact put a huge dent into the windscreen, indicating the kinetic energy of the wheel and this put Susannes car out of the race! Daves 3 wheeled car then slewed diagonally across the track, leaving a huge, thick and oily slick all across the track! The red flags came out straight away! All the drivers were all uninjured, but it now took a mighty effort from the Pembrey circuit staff to clean up the mess. This included hosing the track down and quite a few passes with the Track Sweeper!

An un-injured Neil Watts eventually made his way back to the paddock, where he was assaulted by his sons Evan & Harvey, who dived in for a group hug! All we need was some steam and it could have been a scene from the Railway Children!

Dave Scaramanga was also un-injured but it was clearly something we wasn’t anticipating ‘It wasn’t the sort of accident you’d want to have!’

Chris Everill also made his way to the paddock. I asked him if he was out too? ‘No I’m going for a smoke!’

The re-start 10 minutes plus 1 lap

On the rise- Endaf & Damian harass Roger Dowden as they climb the order

So after half an hour delay whilst the track went through a wash and brush-up, the remaining 16 runners set off on a shortened race! (At least there was time in programme to allow this) Chris Everill and his 3.5 litre V6 Ginetta set off in the lead but he was harassed all the way by Fabio Lufferelli and his 998cc Mini! Fabio commented ‘Chris has got a serious bit of kit there’ Chris said he was using 2 year old tyres, ‘This car isn’t as nimble as my old car but it’s very powerful’ Jason Davies was clearly cruising, at least until he saw Damian Longatono looming up behind him! Jason upped his pace but Damian was up for the chase and set his fastest lap on the last lap as he chased Jason to the line! Endaf Owen followed Damian through from the back to finish 5th. Tyrone was back on form and was on the rise too and finished 6th and first in Class BT! One lap down Roger Dowden was 7th, ahead of Bradley John who had Daryl Radford for close company! Colin Dunn was 10th ahead of the duelling Andrew Williams (MG ZR) and Richard Francis (Citroen Saxo). Colin Lewis was 13th in his Clio having been hampered by a set of unsuitable tyres. In 14th place. Alan Smith took Class AT ahead of Dad & Daughter Graham & Holly Welch who was 16th and last.

So Jason Davies achieved his goal and finished first in Class CS, but along with a few drivers there is a lot of work to do before the next 2 races in 3 weeks time, back at Pembrey.

Richard Francis was well pleased with his first days racing ‘I’m living the dream! And his enthusiasm was catching with both his put crew looking to join him on the track soon!

Our guest Blake Edwards did the honours at the prize-giving and he was very impressed with the racing, so we can expect to see him again soon!

All in all it was an interesting weekends racing. Hopefully all the problems will be fixed for the next race, and we should see a few more drivers out with us. Nick Rocke says he is building new engine, but with a wedding soon, it may be more next year, than this. Willem Verhaak was moving house but the work he had done on his MX5 looked good.

With hardly anyone, except perhaps Alan Smith, scoring a maximum, the points and Gundersen Trophy points will take some working out!

It was all change in the final points table for ‘The Colin Gundersen Trophy for the Class Fastest Race Lap at Pembrey’ In an exciting finish Tyrone Luffarelli was the winner by a narrow margin of 2.5 points from Jason Davies. Dave Scaramanga was 3rd and Roger Dowden, who had lead after 6 rounds, dropped to 4th when Peter Hills pinched the fastest lap in the AS Class in the final round! Points are scored depending how close to the existing lap record a driver is. Only drivers who are registered for the WSSCC score points.

Competitors who are noted in the official race results as setting the fastest lap in their class will score points as follows – Scoring is by means of comparing a competitors race fastest lap with the lap record for that class (Class lap records starting from 2012). All Registered competitors for the WSSCC are eligible for the Colin Gundersen Memorial Trophy. Competitors who are noted in the official race results as setting the fastest lap in their class will score points as follows – Scoring is by means of comparing a competitors race fastest lap with the lap record for that class (Class lap records starting from 2012).

A fastest lap that equals the current Class lap record will score 100 points. Fastest laps that are slower than the current Class lap record will score less than 100 points, by the amount the fastest lap is slower than the current Class lap record.
Fastest laps that are faster than the current Class lap record will score more than 100 points, by the amount the fastest lap is fastest than the current Class lap record. The competitor with the most points at the end of the year will win the trophy. All WSSCC championship races at Pembrey will count.

There were podium visits by Ben Hingley, Seb Morris and Dave Krayem at Donington Park over the weekend of Saturday & Sunday. 10/11th September. (Report by Rob & Marion Allender)

Ben powers to pole in the wet Saturday qualifying! (picture by Jacob Ebray)

BRDC British Formula 3 Championship. It was a weekend of contrasts in both weather and fortunes at Donington Park, with heavy rain on Saturday morning, however whilst this proved a hindrance for Seb & Rick, Ben Hingeley rose to the challenge and powered to pole position for the first of the weekends three BRDC F3 races. The rain stopped shortly after lunchtime, and by the time Ben lead the pack around to the grid for the start of the first race, the track was dry! With the championship leader, Brazils Matt Leist and Britains Harry Scott breathing down his neck, Ben was cool, and got an excellent start to lead into Redgate corner! The top 3 began to draw away from the rest! However Ben was mugged on his way through the Melbourne Hairpin, and Leist &Scott made break to demote Ben to 3rd place. Behind them there was more mayhem, leaving Ben in a safe 3rd place. Or so it seemed until an accident lead to a safety car period, which closed the cars up in a train! After 2 laps the race re-started, but Ben was able to hold his place from the challenge of the 4th place man, Toby Sowerby, and began to increase it when the race was ended by a Red Flag after only 8 laps, after another accident! Leist was 1st with Scott 2nd Ben taking back to back 3rd places following his 3rd place at Snetterton.

Ben displays the spoils of his Donington podium visit to add to his Snetterton haul! (picture by Rob Allender)

After picking up his award, Ben said ‘I’m happy with 3rd place, I’ll start from 5th place for the second race, but Leist & Scott will be behind me! I’m confident we can find some more speed overnight!’ Sadly in race 2, clutch problems left Ben trailing at the back, but he looked to have saved the position with some fast laps putting on the front row for race 3. Even worse was to come as Hingleys car was pushed off the grid, and he was unable to start! Afterwards he paid tribute to his team HHC. ‘We showed how fast we were and I think to end the year with a pole was amazing after where we’ve been!! 2016 finished on Sunday but 2017 starts tomorrow!’

First up on Sunday was the qualifying for the BRSCC Saloon & Sportscar Trophy Dave Krayem lead the way and was 4th fastest in quali and in Race 1. In Race 2 he finished 3rd to get on the podium! Also proving that the Welsh Sports and Saloon Championship is full of really quick drivers, Dave was followed by Ben Scrivens, Keith White and Chris Everill in 4th/5th & 6th places! Fabio Lufferilli was 8th whilst Tyrone was having a ball in 18th place leaving a large train of cars in his wake. including Willem Verhaak & Colin Dunn. Everyone seemed to be having a good time!

2016 British GT Championship – Final Round. Ben Hingley’s Saturday Pole & podium success was not going un-noticed in the GT pits, as the crews got ready for their 10 minutes qualifying, on a dry track. As the 2016 title would be decided on the results of Sundays race, and with Seb & Rick in with an outside chance, a good qualifying position, if not pole, would be vital! The grid for the 2 hour race on Sunday would be decided on the combined times of both of the drivers. So in according with the regulations, Rick, the AM driver, went first, but he could only manage set the 5th fastest time! Normally it would be then up to Seb to set the faster time, but sadly this time he could do no better than 5th in his group! The times showed that the Bentley Continental was 0.871 slower than pole and there was some thought that the wet morning sessions had lead the team down a blind alley. With both drivers and Seb in particular reporting a lack of grip from the rear, the Team Parker Racing engineers set to ‘Drill down’ to find the problem!

There was some encouragement from Sunday mornings 10 minute warm-up session ‘We should be faster still in the race, we can win from 5th!’ At the start of the 2 hour race, as the pace-car pulled off, and the pack piled into Redgate for the first time, Rick pulled off a daring move to grab 4th place! From then on, for the first few laps Rick tried to monster the Lamborghini Hurrican of their closest rivals, Minshaw & Keen. With Phil Keen driving Rick was hoping to tempt him into a mistake. After a quick Safety Car Period, the Lamborghini began to draw away, until suddenly Keen dropped a rear wheel on the still wet grass, while lapping a back-marker and spun off, leaving the Hurrican well and truly beached in the Old Hairpin gravel trap and out of the race! This promoted Rick up to 3rd place, and raised the intriguing prospect that if Seb & Rick could get themselves further up the order, then the scores might fall their way to push them up to 2nd in the Championship! Or even a win, if a similar problem affected their other rivals!

Seb leapt into the car at the pit-stop with smile on his face, and although he drove the car as hard as he could, sadly try as he might, he could not quite close the gap enough to mount a real challenge to the 2nd place car, the Aston Martin of the eventual title winners Derek Johnston and Jonny Adam, although he was only a whisker away at the end! The McLaren of race winners Alasdair McCaig and Rob Bell, were 10 seconds up the road and well out of reach! At the end of the day 3rd place on the road equaled 3rd in championship, which in normal circumstances would be a pleasing result. But 2nd place remained an agonizingly 4.5 points out of reach!

Looking like they lost £5.00 and found 50p! Seb , his dad and Rick reflect on what might have been. (photo by Rob Allender)

However at times in the season an outright championship win was not completely out of the question and if truth be told, then the Team-mates and the Team Parker Crew should have carried more points into the final round! Both Rick & Seb made mistakes, and the other teams closed the gap to nullify the Bentleys’ early season pace. Perhaps the most galling incidents occurred to Seb, with the Oulton Park pit-lane incident vying with the Silverstone kerb-hopping incident as the times when Lady Luck deserted him! Indeed it will come as no consolation, but the extra Euro GT4 cars that got in the way at Silverstone, will not be allowed to compete in 2007! However as a ‘GT3 Rookies’ it has been good year for Seb & Rick with six podiums, four pole positions as well as a win at Oulton Park, with Seb setting a new lap record at Oulton Park!

Seb reflected later, ‘Our driver pairing has been strong, Rick has done a great job, the team has been strong and we’ve all worked together very well indeed. I’m happy with my first season in GT racing, especially after a difficult year in 2015 in GP3, and it’s kind of nice to feel disappointed with third in the championship. The main aim, if we’re back doing this next year, is not to make any silly errors. Rick and I made one each during the year and, ultimately, they cost us the championship win in my view. Third is still great though, I’ll take that!”

Let the Sunoco shine in! (photo by Rob Allender)

In the meantime, Seb still has a chance of winning the Sunoco Whelen Challenge– a contest grading driver performance over a number of categories and carrying a fully-funded prize drive in next year’s Daytona 24 Hour Race. Currently, Seb holds the points lead and he can only be beaten by Marco Cencetti in the Radical Euromasters which has six races remaining in its season.

WRDA member Ben Hingeley turns a corner !– After a special BRDC British F3 Championship weekend at Snetterton which saw him take a 4th place in Race 1 after qualifying 3rd on Saturday, Ben backed it up on Sunday when he set the fastest lap in race 2 and then finished the weekend with his first podium visit in Brit F3, after finishing 3rd in the 3rd race! An understandably delighted Ben confirmed ‘What a day!! Motorsport is full of highs and lows! After an amazing day yesterday, todays first race wasn’t the best start! The car had an oil leak on the formation lap which meant I had to pit! After some top stuff from the HHC crew, especially with Nick Mugglestone even burning his arms, they got me back out and I managed the fastest lap and I could then start 3rd for the final race! I had a near perfect start and although it was a bit close at the finish, it was finally a podium finish!! Thank you everyone so much from everyone at HHC and to my amazing sponsors Thakeham Homes and Sport Wales and lastly my family for the amazing support! I won’t forget this weekend anytime soon!’ Ben is from Abergele and is another single seater prospect from the North Wales triangle, centred on Ruthin, which was the home of the legendary Welsh driver Tom Pryce! There must be something in the water! He is now 11th in the points standings, only 4 points away from breaking into the top 10!

The final 3 rounds in the 2016 BRDC British F3 Championship are at Donnington Park on 10/11th September.

ITV4 will show the Snetterton races at 18:15 this Sunday (14 August), before ITV4+1 will broadcast the highlights one hour later at 19:15. BT Sport will also show the highlights programme on Sunday, with BT Sport 3 carrying it at 23:30. Dedicated motorsports channel Motors TV will also broadcast the highlights on Sunday, with the programme starting at 12:10.

Snetterton 300 British GT Championship Report- Fighting podium visit saves a tough weekend for Seb n Rick. With the car now sporting sponsorship from Venu, (Pwllhelis’ high class ~ Restaurant ~ Lounge and Dance Bar) and having scored a succession on Pole Positions in the Team Parker Bentley Continental GTs car, it was a suprise to see Rick & Seb so far down the grid for both the 2 x I hour races at Snetteton last weekend! Rick had the better grid positions, starting race 1 from 5th place on the grid, but Seb was back in 9th place for the start of race 2. He said later ‘, “I don’t know what’s been wrong with the car this weekend but we really struggled to slow the car down anywhere, that’s been having an impact on our straight-line speed. We knew after practice it wasn’t going to be our best weekend, but Rick and I had our mature heads on and we tried to make the most of everything’

Rick Parfitt Jnr took the opening stint and he moved up into the top four when two cars tangled at Agostini. Swarming all over the back of the third placed BMW of Lee Mowle, Parfitt Jnr shadowed his rival lap after lap before assuming the lead of the contest at the end of lap 14 when the top three cars pitted to serve their driver-change stops. Rick pitted the next time around to hand the Bentley over to Seb who threaded back into the race in fifth – with the leading car still to pit. When all stops had been served, the MSA Team UK driver held fourth (later to be 3rd after a pit-stop faux-pass by Joe Osborne dropped him back) and he spent the remainder of his stint soaking up immense pressure from the Aston Martin of Jonny Adam. With rarely more than a few tenths of a second between them, Seb didn’t put a wheel wrong and produced an impeccable performance to keep the Aston behind all the way to the chequered flag on lap 32. As a result of a time penalty for the ‘winning’ BMW of Joe Osborne, though, the Bentley was elevated into third place.

“The pressure I was under was probably the most I’ve experienced in any race to be fair – I thought I did well to keep him Adam behind me”, said Seb, “Rick did a great job in his stint, then we had a great pit-stop strategy from the boys, and after that it was a case of me handling the pressure from the Aston – it had at least 30 metres on us in braking, and had us on traction too, but I held him off!”

3rd + 5th = damage limitation. (photo by Jakob Ebrey)

As is normal practice in British GT racing, Seb took the first stint of round eight on Sunday afternoon and by the time the cars headed into the infield section he had already moved up from ninth into seventh place. Determined to break into the top six as quickly as possible, on lap three the Welshman did just that and immediately began to close on the Aston Martin of Jon Barnes.

Lapping within 0.4 seconds of the race leader’s pace at that stage, Seb ran just a few tenths of a second shy of the Aston but remained in sixth to the mandatory driver-change stop. Pitting at the end of lap 17, one of the first GT3 drivers to do so, Seb handed the car over to Parfitt Jnr who joined the race with just under half an hour to go. Holding sixth place initially, an issue for one of the other front-runners elevated the Team Parker car into the top five and despite closing to within just 0.4 seconds of the Aston, now in the hands of Mark Farmer, he had to eventually settle for fifth at the flag on lap 32! The points scored keep the Bentley duo in the hunt for the honours, plus Seb has retained his Sunoco Whelan UK Challenge lead, which carries with it a mega prize of a fully funded drive aboard a Whelen-sponsored prototype in the 2017 Rolex 24 hr race at Daytona! Also Rick Parfitt is also doing well in the Sunoco’s 200 Challenge. The champion of the 200 Challenge will contest the 200-mile Daytona support race held over the same January weekend.

All attention now turns to the final double points 2 hour race in the 2016 British GT Championship season, on the Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit, over the weekend 10th/11th September. Seb and Parfitt Jnr go into the race weekend 27.5 points shy of the series lead – with 37.5 up for grabs for the race win.

Snetterton 300 Preveiw. Having taking a fighting 2nd place at in the British GT race at Spa last month, the focus now switches to this weekends races at Snetterton, on the Snetterton 300 course. The team and the drivers, are in with a real chance of major Championship honours if they can score well in Norfolk, as only 10.5 points cover BritishGT3’s top three crews with only two race weekends remaining! Britishgt.com points standings Seb also increased his lead at the head of the Sunoco Whelen Challenge.

Ryan Ratcliffe & Will Moore will be looking to bounce back after an early exit at Spa, when a clash with another car broke their steering rack on their Audi R8!

Ben Hingley, will also be looking to make more progress in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship

After taking the Pro-AM Class pole in the 2016 Total 24hrs of Spa there was disappointment for the Team Parker Racing Bentley squad . After a bright start , and in spite of the efforts of Welsh racer Andy Meyrick and his team-mates Tom Onslow-Cole and Callum Macleod the car lost time & places, until it suffered a race ending accident with the cars’ owner Ian Loggie on board, and the Bentley Continental GT3 Blancpain car arrived back at the Team Parker pits on the back of a recovery vehicle after running for 8 hours!

Andy was positive as always. ‘We came. We got pole. We led. We showed great pace but sadly we didn’t get the result we deserved. However we will be back, we will learn and we will come back stronger. Incredible team mates in Tom, Callum and Ian. Thanks so much Team Parker. Simply you are the best team in the pit lane

A fighting 2nd place at Spa for the Bentley Continental GT3 pair Seb n Rick puts them back into 3d place in the points standings, only 10.5 points away the points leaders, with only two race weekends remaining!

Rick Parfitt Jnr started the 2 hour race in Team Parker Racing’s Bentley Continental GT3 from pole position, after Seb had pulled out a stunning qualifying lap to claim the teams 4th pole of the year.

However on the run down to the La Source hairpin on lap 1 Rick was hit from behind which made him vulnerable to attack, and he slipped back to third place on a dramatic first lap, but then stayed there until lap seven when he was edged back to fourth. During the remainder of his stint Parfitt Jnr maintained his top four spot and he pitted on lap 21, soon after the driver-change pit stop window opened, to hand the Bentley over to Seb. With the bit between his teeth, Seb soon moved up to 3rd and then quickly closed a 12 second gap to the leaders! After moving up into second position, he was tantalisingly close to another win after a real grandstand finish to the race. – a mere 0.6 second behind the winners Mark Farmer & Jon Barnes driving and Aston Martin V12 Vantage

Seb commented “I was pretty happy with my stint, closing down a 12 second gap to where we were at the finish was good going – and we finished ahead of our main championship rivals which is the most important thing. Overall it’s been a good, trouble-free weekend and hopefully we’ve started the ball rolling again with this result and the championship closing up.”

Seb also increased his lead at the head of the Sunoco Whelen Challenge.

However bad luck put Ryan Ratcliffe & Will Moore out early on, as an clash with another car in the opening laps, sidelined the Optimum Racing run Audi R8 with damage to the steering rack! However Ryan & Will hope tp be back at Spa later in July for the 24hr race!

TV Schedule

TV Schedule

ROUND 6 SPA:
Channel 4

Duration

16/07/2016 06:30

24 mins

19/07/2016 05:00

24 mins

There is now a four week break from British GT action with the last double-header of the season, rounds seven and eight, taking place at Snetterton.

Spa Qualifying report. Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt Jnr, driving the Team Parker Racing run Bentley Continental GTS car, claimed their fourth British GT Championship pole position of the season at Spa-Francorchamps ready for Saturdays race after the Spa weather played a hand! Rick who had never driven at Spa before, said he never really found the limit, and didn’t really string toghter a quick lap. ‘Fortunately Seb produced another mega lap and we were a bit lucky with the weather, but we’ll take it!” Seb confirmed ‘No-one seemed to nail their laps first time around, but I managed to improve on the second lap! After that the rain hit, so that was that! I definitely wasn’t nine tenths quicker on raw pace. Rick’s not been entirely happy with the set-up today so we’ll spend some time tonight looking into it and hopefully find a good compromise. Pro-Am’s all about a happy balance!’ Ryan Ratcliffe and Will Moore maxed out the performance of the Optimum Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 and were an excellent 10th fastest! If it rains again, as is likely in the Ardennes , they may be on for some more giant killing, as they did at Silverstone recently! The race is due to start at 12.30 local Belgian time http://www.britishgt.com/live-timing

Spa preveiw. One of world motor-sport’s greatest tracks, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, is the destination for both Seb Morris (Seb leads the Sunoco Challenge, a ranking system which compares driver performances across a number of categories) & Ryan Ratcliffe for the eagerly awaited sixth round of the British GT Championship season which takes place on Saturday, 9th July.

Good training for Spa! Ryan & Will finished 5th in the rain at Silverstone – (photo by Jacob Ebray)

Five weeks on from Silverstone, the British GT and GT4 European Series grids again join forces for another packed entry at another legendary grand prix venue. The 4.35-mile, 20-turn Ardennes circuit is noted as a favourite among drivers and teams but having suffered due to the slower GT4 European cars both Seb & Ryan will both be on their guard. However the notorious Spa weather should not hold too may fears for both Welsh drivers after the atrocious weather at Silverstone. Ryan and his team-mate Will finished in 5th place after a stellar drive in the Optimum Audi R8 Ultra, but Seb tripped over a kerb trying to avoid a slower GT4 car

Over the course of the first four race meetings of his maiden season in GT racing, Seb Morris has had three podium finishes in the Team Parker Racing run Bentley Continental GT3 including a magnificent victory during round four at his ‘home’ track, Oulton Park in Cheshire.

Seb confirmed “I’m really looking forward to being back at Spa, it’s such an incredible track and it should suit the Bentley with the long straights and fast corners”, he commented, “We’re all feeling confident of mounting a strong challenge to be back on the podium, after the disappointment of Silverstone we’re focused on nothing less.” Aside from his excellent haul of silverware so far in 2016 in British GT, one of the most eye-catching aspects of the MSA Team UK driver’s season has been his sensational speed in qualifying where he has scorched to three pole position starts. That’s not to say the Welshman’s race pace has been any less spectacular – at Oulton Park, for example, Seb absolutely smashed the International Circuit lap record for a GT3 car by setting a brand new benchmark 0.7 seconds faster than the previous best.

“All of the guys in the team have done an incredible job so far this season, we started the year fantastically with pole at Brands Hatch on my GT debut and with two more poles since then I think we’ve shown what a great package we have”, he added, “In the races we’ve been just as strong, if not more so, and the win at Oulton really was amazing. I’m feeling pretty confident we can move back up the championship table at the weekend and I’m also hoping to keep the lead in the Sunoco Whelen Challenge. I’ve been training harder than ever over the last few weeks to make sure I’m 100% prepared – I can’t wait now to get back on track.”

Opening practice for British GT will take place on Friday, 8th July, at 08.35 (UK time) with the second session following at 11.25 (UK time) ahead of qualifying at 14.45 (UK time). On Saturday, 9th July, the 120-minute sixth round of the season will get underway at 11.35 (UK time).

Wrda members Ryan & Ben star in the wet, but Seb & Rick suffer!

British GT Championship Silverstone race report – On the weekend of the Queens ‘Official’ 90th birthday, a trip through the Cotswolds to Silverstone included an invitation to lots of village parties! On a slightly dull but dry Saturday, Seb Morris & Rick Parfitt did their best to keep their party going, and carried on from their recent success, to once again taking pole position for the 3 hour British GT Championship race at Silverstone (their 3rd pole of the year)! With only 1 race start, the grid positions were decided by combining the times of both Am & Pro drivers! With Rick Parfitt jnr setting the fastest time in the first AM session and Seb doing the same in the Pro session, the Team Parker Racing run Bentley Continental GT3 would start on Pole Position! However only .019 of a second separated them from the Lamborghini Hurrican of Liam Griffin & Alec Sims, with the Ferrari 488 of Marco Attard & Adam Carroll and Aston Martin of Johnston & Adams, all within a 10th of second of Rick & Seb! It was going to be close!

Further down the grid was Ryan Ratcliffe, and his teammate Will Moore, who where getting ready for Qulali and Ryan commented ‘It’ll be easier when it’s only us on the track! With all those extra GT4 cars on the track at the same time it was crazy!’ Ryan and his teammate Will Moore would start from 12th place.

WRDA member Ben Hingley moving up! photos by Rob Allender

Ben Hingley, It was nice to be able to catch up to Ben, who is one of our younger members! Ben is making his way up from Karts to Cars and was having his first races in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship, having done Formula Jedi in 2015. ‘I haven’t driven anything with as much down-force as this before, so it’s a learning curve.’ There were three F3 races on the weekend for the 2 litre Tatus-Cosworth cars, and in race 1 Ben fell back from a good grid place to finish 13th. ‘The clutch started to slip. Ben drove well in race 2 to finish in a good 6th place, but Sundays 3rd race was abandoned due to torrential rain flooding the track ! Twitter @benhingley77

Rick Parfitt Snr looks in on the Team Parker pits. (Photo by Rob Allender)

Sunday Morning GT3 warm up. Overnight the rain clouds rolled in, and the track was damp as the cars started the ten minute session. Seb drove straight back into the pits for a practice driver change with Rick taking over! Sadly Rick trailed back to the pits, with the rear of the car bearing witness to an off track excursion, and a brush with the barriers, on the outside of the Maggotts and Becketts chicane! A crest fallen Rick confirmed ‘I went for the throttle a little early, and it got away from me!’ The good news was the damage was only cosmetic, and at least it wasn’t in the race & the team had 2 and ½ hours to repair the damage! As some light relief, during the lunch break Rick Parfitt dropped into the pits to see how his son, Rick Parfitt Jnr, was doing!

It was as bad as this, as the race starts – photo by Jacob Ebray

Race – 3 hours – Rolling start

With the race lasting 3 hours, slick pit-stops for fuel, tyres & a driver change would be vital! 3 stops would be needed, with the team adding up to 120 litres of petrol and changing 4 tyres as quickly as they can! Then the rules would keep the car stationery for a full 2 minutes! Further rules on driver changes were that in this race the Pro driver can only drive for 100 minutes, so Rick would need to do 80 minutes, and he would start the race. On the 3rd pit stop, the car must serve its 20 second success penalty as Seb & Rick won the last race at Oulton Park! There had been a heavy drizzle since early morning, and with no breeze, Silverstone descended into the kind of gloom normally associated with races at Spa (where the next race is) or the Nürburgring! With no wind to clear the air, it would take a long time for the track to dry, with the spray generated by the rain tyres, hanging in the air! Ryan confirmed ‘I don’t mind if it’s dry or wet’ but crucially it seemed that Rick & Seb did not have much experience of driving the Bentley in the wet!

Pace Car Start – Under a gathering gloom, the race started behind the pace-car, which lead the 51 cars around at a snails’ pace! This promoted several teams to ‘roll the dice’ and bring their cars in for a driver change, getting their Pro driver in as early as possible! The Team Parker management had considered the option, but decided to stick with their plan, rather than risk making another extra stop later on! Rick had spun on his way to the grid, but once the race started properly, after 7 minutes behind the pace car, he seemed fine, and although he seemed to slip down the order, at least he was keeping it on the track!

Unfortunately all was not well with Team Parkers 2nd car, Bentley no. 24, when with the experienced Ian Loggie on board, the car aquaplaned and hit Hangar Straight’s outside wall head-on, with only 30 minutes of the three-hour race completed! Ian (who won the AM class in Blancpain last year) dragged the car back to the pits, where the Team Parker mechanics started the long task to get the car back in the race! (Later Team Parker Racing won their second British GT PMW Expo Team of the Weekend Award of the season at Silverstone after completing a comprehensive mid-race rebuild in time for the Bentley Continental GT3 to return to the fray).

How bad it was is etched on Ricks face, as he does a debrief with Andy Meyrick. (Photo by Rob Allender)

Back in the race, the feedback from Rick indicated a lack of traction, and the word to Seb before the driver change, was to dial in more traction control. As Rick stuck to his task, car after car dropped out, including the championship points leader, and later the second place points scorer! After the driver change, Rick looked washed out, and with his eyes on stalks as he talked to Andy Meyrick about the conditions! ‘It was so wet! I told Seb there are two streams across the track at the far end! There was a lot of aqua-planning, once or twice my heart was really thumping!’ Clearly it was an ordeal in dreadful conditions!

Seb re-joined in 7th place, with 1 hour and 50 minutes left. with Andys’ wise words in his mind, (There is still a long way to go, a lot of things could happen). Shortly after that time, the rain/drizzle eased and parts of the circuit began to dry. However with no breeze to clear the spray away, it took a long time to clear in other parts on the track, but a hint of a dryer line was starting to show! So whether it was the partially drying track, a new setting on traction control, Sebs driving, or a combination of all those factors, the Bentley was starting to make progress, as was Ryan, with his less powerful mid-engined Audi clearly being very effective!

After another safety car period, Seb passed one of the Lamborghinis’ for 4th place, and was soon up to 3rd place, setting the cars fastest lap of the race, and it seemed that the race set-up of the car was coming good! However as he closed on to 2nd place, they zeroed in a group of GT4 cars, who were having their own battle! With 51 starters, dealing with traffic would be crucial, but as Seb approached the Wellington straight, deep in the GT4 traffic, he was unable to prevent the Bentley from jumping the kerbing, as he was lapping the back-markers! On this off-track excursion the car lost a major part of the front splitter, but crucially a drain cover flipped up and cracked the radiator! So it was race over for the Team Parker Bentley, and Seb cruised back to the pits to retire the car. Sebs’ dad Phillip confirmed ‘Its tough! With both the points’ leaders already out, the points were there for the taking! Perhaps Sebs pace in the car masks the fact that this is his first season in Endurance Racing, and this was his longest and wettest race to date!

Seb said ‘We were in third and right on the tail of 2nd place, when I caught a wet patch as I was trying to lap a GT4 car. I had a massive tank-slapper, so bailed out of the corner, but it sent me across a little strip of grass and that sent me flying in the air. As soon as the car came back down it was a massive hit and I knew we had big problems, the car was vibrating and the engine temperature went through the roof. In hindsight, I should’ve maybe waited a bit on some moves on the GT4 cars – that’s something I’ve learnt for the longer races in the future”, reflected Seb, “We showed again how quick we are though this weekend, how good the Bentley is, so there are plenty of positives to take away. It was fantastic to get pole again, and more points for the Sunoco Whelen Challenge, and the race wasn’t going too badly! One of the consolations, though, is the first two ahead of us in the championship did not finish either so we’ve got four races left to chase them down. We just need to look ahead to Spa now and see what we can do there.”

Ryan in the rain! photo by Jacob Ebrey

Back in the race, Ryan Ratcliffe was upholding Welsh and WRDA honour, and late in the race, had climbed up into 3rd place! However he was muscled down to finish in 5th place by some of those who rolled the dice at the start of the race! Afterwards he confirmed ‘‘This was the hardest race of my life! However it was a bitter sweet day! I’m absolutely gutted for myself and the team to lose the podium place on the last lap!’ I’m looking forward to Spa!’ On the plus side Ryan, and his teammate Will Moore, were the last finishers on the same lap as the leaders, only 48 seconds behind the eventual winners Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen, and the points have moved Ryan & Will up to 10th place in the points standings!

Team Parker Racing team-mates, Seb Morris & Rick Parfitt, are getting ready for the 5th round of the 2016 British GT Championship at Silverstone on Sunday 12th June, and they, and the team, will be on an absolute high, after blitzing the field and winning the last race at a hot & sunny Oulton Park, in style in their Bentley Continental GT3 car! Morris even set a new lap record before handing over to Parfitt with a 13 second lead! After the car sat out a 10 second success penalty, Rick was able to press on, and extend the lead back up to 10 seconds when the race ended! This as the cue for some wild celebrations & thunderous cheers when Seb & Rick climbed onto the top step of the podium Winning podium mp3 ! In truth it had been a question of when, not if, the team & drivers would take their first win, as they have been on the pace right from the first race! Only bad luck and circumstances like the pit-lane chaos in race 1 at Oulton have stopped them winning before!

In contrast to the tight confines of Oulton Park, this weekends’ race, the ‘Silverstone 500’ is on the fast sweeping Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, which has world class facilities for the teams, so at least there will be plenty of room for conventional pit-stops! Conventional wisdom is that the Bentley Continental would struggle at Oulton Park, but some smart setting up by Team Parker Racing, dialed the car in perfectly! The Oulton Park results have put the drivers and the team into 3rd place in the championship.

The theory is that the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit will suit the horsepower and handling of the Bentley, but that may be balanced by the superior aerodynamics of cars like the Lamborghini & McLaren. Another factor is the success penality, which is a feature of the 2016 British GT Championship regulations, with a time penalty applied to the first 3 finishers in the last race. In this case, as a result of their Oulton Park win, Seb & Rick’s car will need to remain stationery for a further 20 seconds, once their pit-stop has finished, before they can drive away! However this weekends’ race is the longest in the series, being 3 hours long, so the penalty should be less of a factor! With a maximum of 37.5 points being on offer to the victors, this weekends race could be pivotal. N.b there will 51 cars, with the normal gird boosted by 17 extra cars from the GT4 European Series entries (17) which, despite not counting towards the British GT result, will be involved in their own race on track at the same time. Indeed the only cloud on the horizon may well be a rain cloud as the forecast is that the weather is likely to change, with rain bands moving across the area on Saturday & Sunday

Seb commented “Silverstone should be a good weekend and the Bentley should be strong there. We’ll obviously have to factor in the success penalty from the win at Oulton, but we’re all feeling confident for the race. Oulton was an amazing weekend, fantastic to get our first win and the first for the Continental in the championship. Hopefully it’s going to be a springboard for the rest of the season, to be so fast at Oulton makes us very positive for how we should go on the big GP track at Silverstone. We have an inherently good car and plan to give it some beans next weekend to keep the momentum going.”

Seb also took the Sunoco award for his efforts at Oulton Park “It really is fantastic to be leading the Sunoco Whelen Challenge”, said Seb, “It’s a very high-profile competition and obviously carries an amazing prize. If we can keep it going who knows – we could be paying a visit to Daytona next year!”

Hoping for a better race at Silverstone will be Ryan Ratcliffe, originally from Pontradawe, driving the ‘Groundhog’ Audi R8 LMS GT3 car. Ryan and his team-mate Will Moore had some practice problems that compromised their racing, at Outlon Park, but hopefully without such problems, their prospects will be better. Ryan & Will are 13th in the points standings.

Neil Cunningham Tribute – The British GT management will use its blue riband event to pay tribute to the late Neil Cunningham this Sunday on what would have been his 54th birthday

www.racing4mnd.org

Neil, who lived with his wife and family in West Cross in Swansea and he spent his final years campaigning to raise awareness of the condition through his Racing4MND charity. British GT will do likewise this weekend by replacing its standard windscreen branding with a large Racing4MND version. The GT3 design features a white background while GT4’s will be black. The prominent branding area will be especially visible this Sunday thanks to Motors TV’s live coverage of all three hours from Silverstone.

Drivers, team personnel and championship organisers will also gather at the front of the pre-race grid for a photo call with a Racing4MND banner. All are invited to wear team shirts, just as guests at Neil’s funeral this Thursday have been asked to. Championship Manager Benjamin Franassovici believes it’s the least British GT could do for such a popular and brave former driver.

“We thought about doing something at Oulton Park but there wasn’t enough time to organise anything suitable that would have done Neil’s life justice,” he said. “In contrast Silverstone is our biggest race of the year, there’s live TV coverage and of course Sunday would have been Neil’s birthday, so it made much more sense to wait and do things properly. Racing4MND is Neil’s legacy so it’s important that we give it as much coverage as possible. It doesn’t get any more high-profile than dedicated windscreen branding across our biggest grid of the year! I’m sure he’d be happy with that.” Donate to Neils Charity here

Tyre-wise, Silverstone will be the most challenging circuit British GT has visited so far in 2016, but it’s also one Pirelli knows well. The layout gives both high top speeds and high loads through the many fast sweeping corners. Tyre energy input is very high in general, and the surface is abrasive, particularly on the older parts of the circuit. All of these factors, alongside the fact this is the first three-hour race of the season, mean the teams will have to think about their tyre usage strategy in the race. Indeed, while tyre performance has contributed to GT3 lap records being broken at every track visited so far this season, their durability was also demonstrated at Oulton Park last time out where many teams chose not to change tyres. This might be Pirelli’s first season supplying British GT but a three-hour endurance race at Silverstone is nothing new for the P Zero DHC tyre used in the GT3 category. This product – like the DH tyre for GT4 – has already been proven in GT racing worldwide, including in the Blancpain GT Series which visits Silverstone for a 180-minute endurance race every year.

On a brilliantly sunny May Bank Holiday weekend the British GT Championship held two 1 hour races for rounds 3 & 4 of the championship around the tight confines of a verdant Oulton Park, in leafy Cheshire!

Before the quick-fire 10 minute Qualifying sessions with just about time for 4 quick laps, Seb was confident they could carry on the good work, ‘You only need one lap to do it, and we’ll be ok, unless someone was been sandbagging!’ In the event Seb was fastest of all the ‘Pro’ drivers and was ably backed up his teammate Rick, who was 3rd fastest of the ‘Am’ drivers. Following the Monday morning warm up, with no penalty pit stop in prospect, the team were looking good! Andy Meyrick, himself a Bentley pro, was on hand to lend his support to his near neighbour Seb Morris.

Also it was a chance to catch up with Ryan Ratcliffe, originally from Pontradawe, driving a Audi R8 LMS GT3 sponsored by local Swansea firm ‘Groundhog’ . Ryan had to suffer qualifying woes, after his team-mate Will Moore had a puncture, and had to ‘borrow’ Ryan’s set, which compromised both driver’s chances, and meant they would start the race well down. Ryan won the GT4 part of the British GT Championship in 2013, and was optimistic about their changes, even though he felt his car lacked straight-line speed! ‘This is a tight circuit and there could be a big accident! So starting from the back of GT3 cars could be good’. Ryan confessed himself as nervous when Will started, ‘Especially the first lap when anything could happen!’

Down in the Team Parker pit, as demanded by the rules, Parfitt would start race 1 from 3rd on the grid, with Seb starting race 2 from pole position. Will Moore would start from 7th place, Ryan would start race 2 in 14th place.

One of the features of the British GT Championship is the driver changes, but the tight pit-lane at Oulton Park demanded a unique solution, as there was not enough space for cars to line up on the normal sideways fashion. This involved cars being driven half into the pit garage, so that only the doors and rear wheels were in the pit lane, in some sort of crazy herring-bone fashion. Once the driver change had been done, the mechanics then pushed the car back into the pit-lane for the new driver to drive off! This would have a dramatic part to play in the result of the race! Seb Pre-event Oulton interveiw On the morning of the race Seb spoke about driving the Bentley.

In race one the AM (amateur) driver needed to do the first stint, and at the start, Rick got an excellent start and grabbed 2nd place on the run down to Old Hall Corner! From then on he kept the pressure on the leader, Jon Minshaw in the Lamborghini Hurrican. ‘I knew we had a pit stop advantage over him, so I wasn’t going to do anything risky!’ However, at the pit-stops, is where it all went wrong! Basically at the first available opportunity, just about everyone, piled into the pits to change drivers to get the Pro driver in as quickly as possible! However this caused a scene of utter chaos! With the Bentley pit at the far end of the pit-lane, when the Team Parker mechanics pushed Seb back into the pit-lane, he was unable to drive away as he was blocked in by one of the other cars! With Seb stymied, other cars who had already done their driver changes were able to rush past the stationary Bentley! When eventually he got going. crucially Sebs had lost track position, and once all the pit-stops had been done, he emerged into 8th place! Seb then got his head down and passed car after car until, after a string of penalties had removed a few cars from his path, he had moved into 4th place! A podium place might be some compensation and Seb was determined to make it happen, and moved into 3rd place! Although the top step of the podium might beyond his grasp, 2nd place was firmly in his sights and he began to reel in the BMW Z4 of Joe Osborne. Eventually locking horns late on, and over a fast & furious closing lap, both Morris and Joe Osborne pushed themselves and the cars to the limit, with Osborne just holding on by just 0.23 of a second! (The winner was the Lamborghini Hurrican of Irish Drivers Liam Griffin & Adam Carroll)

I almost had him! Seb explains to Rick how close he was to getting 2nd place (photo by Rob Allender)

Afterwards Seb was forthright. ‘Some people need to learn pit-lane etiquette. The 20 or so seconds we lost behind the McLaren in the pits, effectively cost us the race! So to come back and get a podium was great!’

Team-mate, Rick Parfitt said “Being blocked in by the McLaren really cost us the race, which had been going exactly to plan up to that point. Seb drove a blinder after that to at least limit the damage.”

On the podium, the interview commented to Seb ‘Well you’re on pole for race 2 so you can expect a win’ Seb replied ‘Who knows anymore!’

However Seb was quickly able to put the disappointment behind him, to concentrate on the next race, surely a testament to his training on the MSA Team UK programme! (Andy Meyrick was on hand to see the work he and his colleagues have been doing on the MSA programme put into practice)

With the car carrying a 5 second success penalty, Seb started the afternoon race from pole position and lead the 27 car grid into Old Hall corner and was never headed! In an omen of things to come, he had more than one second lead after the first lap! Keeping the pressure on, he set a new lap record on lap 5 and simply drove away from everyone. He soon reached and dispatched a set of backmarkers, and then found himself in a position all drivers dream off! With no pressure from behind, and with a clear track in front of him, Seb produced a string of faultless laps, to build a 13.5 second lead before the pit stop!

This time there were no hiccups, and no overcrowding in the pit-lane, and Seb handed over to Rick for his team-mate to bring the car home! Once into the grove, Rick kept the lead to the rest at a handy 10 seconds. Coming into the final 5 minutes, the race suddenly ended under Red Flags after a backmarker had a car damaging crash! This was a cue for some wild celebrations with lots of smiles, back slaps and hugs! Having thanked all the pit-crew, Seb sprinted down to Parc Ferme to join Rick for some personal moments, before making their way to the podium to take the awards! Hear the Winning podium celebrations below!

With the added distinction of scoring Bentleys first win in the British GT Championship, at the Crewe works’ home circuit, victory’s seldom come sweeter! Indeed it seemed that, with the frustrations of a fruitless year in GP3 now firmly behind him, Seb revelled in the attention with TV crews vying with friends and supporters for photos, and autographs! Team Boss Stuart Parker, said ‘Sebs drive was the best I’ve ever seen in British GT racing, the WRDA ought to give him an award for that!’( Hum! a new award for ‘Drive of the Year, now there’s a thought!)

Sebs father, Phillip Morris thanked us for coming so far; I replied ‘I would have gone a long way to see a Welsh driver put in a stint like that!’ Apart from his winners award, Seb was also awarded ‘The Sunoco Driver of the Weekend’ award for his driving, including setting a new lap record for GT3 cars at Oulton Park! Surely plenty of payback for the support of the Sports Council for Wales’ ‘Elite Cymru’ programme!

Seb confirmed, ‘I pushed really hard, to the absolute limit in fact all the way through the stint. The car was amazingly balanced. The team and Bentley have done such a good job, especially to get the car working well in the traction zones. We’ve had an amazing weekend with this and third place in race one. However, I just want to mention Andrew Palmer. As a fellow Bentley and racing driver, and on behalf of Team Parker Racing, I want him to know we’re all thinking of him after his accident in America on Saturday.”

The points scored at Oulton Park have lifted Seb, Rick and the team up to 3rd in the Championship standings. http://www.britishgt.com/pointsn.php2016 British GT Championship Calendar Next Silverstone, Northamptonshire – 11/12 June– Rd6: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium – 8/9 July Rds7/8: Snetterton, Norfolk – 6/7 August, Final Rd9: Donington Park, – 10/11 September

Oulton Park preveiw. Oulton Park in Cheshire is the venue for rounds three and four of the 2016 British GT Championship this bank holiday weekend (May 28 and 30) when teams and drivers attempt to tame the notoriously tricky International circuit. Mirroring the F1 race at Monaco, (and indeed the F2 races of the ‘70s at Thruxton), Free Practice and Qualifying will take place on Saturday, with Sunday as a quiet day, and the racing on Monday

In another departure from normal convention there will be two 60-minute races as opposed to the usual single two-hour format! This will bring a new challenge for teams and drivers, whose Am and Pro qualifying times decide the respective race one and two grids. The shorter hour-long races also give drivers fewer opportunities to establish an advantage or get away with mistakes, while those entries carrying pit-stop success penalties from Rockingham have a second chance to shine in race two.

Meanwhile although Rick and Seb will probably tell you their Bentley is unlikely to suit Oulton’s twists and turns, but that’s also what they said prior to Brands Hatch where the Team Parker Racing-run Continental GT3 subsequently scored a commanding pole position and second place in the race. A scrappy outing at Rockingham means they start Oulton’s opener without a pit-stop handicap, making them likely podium contenders once more!

Seb Morris and team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr hold 4th place in both, the outright GT3 standings and the Pro-Am title battle! In the first round at Brands Hatch, after leading the race, from pole position, Rick & Seb suffered a series of unfortunate incidents & penalties, they ended up taking a solid second place, on their debut in the Team Parker Racing run Bentley Continental GT3!

However the team were on the back foot from the start of Free Practice at Rockingham after a big crash by Parfitt on a patch of oil. This meant Seb & Rick missed the qualifying session as the Team Parker crew battle to get the car fit to race. Then apart from starting from the back of the grid, they still managed to battle through a series of further setbacks to a points-scoring top 10 finish! The silver lining after Rockingham is that they start Oulton’s opener without a pit-stop handicap, making them likely podium contenders once more.

Seb said “I’m really looking forward to the weekend, we’ve got a big challenge ahead to try and claw back some points after Rockingham but we’re looking forward and planning on being back where we were at Brands Hatch. “Oulton is quite a tight circuit, so the traffic could be an issue in qualifying but we need to manage that the best we can and make sure we’re starting as close to the front of the grid as possible. I know the Parker guys will give us a great car, though, and we’re 100% going for podiums.” He added: “As long as Rick is in a position to hand the car over to me in one piece I’m confident I’ll be quick and able to challenge strongly. Rick has been quick at Oulton in the past and it’s the place where I took my biggest ever winning margin in a race – I think I won by something like 23 seconds in Ginetta Juniors in 2011. I’ve always enjoyed Oulton, so can’t wait to race there in the Bentley.”

PIRELLI TYRE INFORMATION – Jonathan Wells, Pirelli British GT race engineer: “Oulton Park is another typical parkland circuit, with a fast flowing nature that is quite challenging on tyres. There are several high inputs of lateral force as well as heavy braking and traction points. Due to the different race format, some of the teams may opt for a more aggressive strategy in terms of setup, potentially increasing tyre degradation and wear. However, based on the opening races of 2016 we are more than confident that our tyres will offer fantastic performance throughout the weekend whatever the circumstances.”

Seb Morris, Rick Parfitt and Team Parker Racing found themselves on the back foot at Rockingham after they were unable to set a time in Qualifing after Rick suffered a heavy crash in Saturdays untimed morning session after hitting a patch of oil. The Team Parker crew have repaired the car but it will mean that Rick & Seb will start the 2 hour race from the very back! However the team received a boost when Rick & Seb set the 5th fastest time in Sunday mornings warm-up! However the Bentley Continental duo forced to settle for top 10 despite winning pace! The race was a hugely frustrating affair for Seb Morris on Sunday, 1st May, when the MSA Team UK driver and team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr had to settle for a top 10 finish after a weekend which threw all manner of problems at the Team Parker Racing entry.

“It was a disappointing race, but it all started with the big shunt in first practice”, said Seb, “The guys at Team Parker did a great job to put the car back together and give us a car for raceday, but it obviously compromised what we might have been able to do and we both made some mistakes in the race.

“Unfortunately Rick had a penalty and then I picked one up when a GT4 car braked to let me by at the Safety Car re-start late in the race. It was a disastrous race to be honest, but we still showed what the car was capable of, even after such a big hit on Saturday, and at least we got into the points.”

Seb Morris, Rick Parfitt and Team Parker Racing are carrying justifiable confidence into the second round of the British GT Championship season, which takes place at Rockingham in Northamptonshire on Sunday, 1st May, after a headline-grabbing performance endurance racing bow eight days ago.

Making a dream start to his maiden campaign in British GT at Brands Hatch, Seb and team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr dominated qualifying and secured an excellent second place finish in the race, Seb now has his sights set on more of the same a few days from now. In sparkling form from the outset, the MSA Team UK driver was ultra-quick at the wheel of his Bentley Continental GT3 and certainly announced his arrival in the world of GT racing in perfect style with a faultless performance throughout the opening weekend. “We were at a bit of a disadvantage at Brands and still had a fantastic weekend, so that gives us a lot of confidence for Rockingham”, said the rapid Welsh racer, “I know the track like the back of my hand, and I’ve had some great results and races there, and Rick obviously knows Rockingham well too.

“I’m really looking forward to it, hopefully we’ll have a car that can challenge for the sharp end of the grid again and the podium. Everyone worked so hard during the pre-season to get the car as competitive as possible, the Team Parker guys have done an amazing job and it’s up to Rick and I to make the most of what we have and keep driving things forward. It’s been a fantastic start.”

In truth, the team-mates only just missed out on challenging for victory at Brands Hatch due to a combination of outside factors – a lengthy ‘Full Course Yellow’ cautionary period, during which a healthy lead was eradicated, and the loss of half a minute during the pit stops when a GT4 Class car blocked the Team Parker Racing grid box.

Second place, though, was a superb result for Seb’s debut and also gave the former single-seater racer the lead in the Sunoco Whelen Challenge – a contest which compares and assesses the performance of drivers across a number of different racing disciplines.

The eventual winner of this year’s Sunoco Challenge will be rewarded with a fully funded drive in the 2017 Daytona 24 Hours in the USA. Heading into his second race meeting of the season, Seb holds an impressive 30-point advantage in the Sunoco battle!

The schedule for the coming weekend’s visit to Rockingham is that, following two free practice sessions on Saturday, 30th April, qualifying is scheduled to get underway at 15.35. On Sunday, 1st May, morning warm-up commences at 09.25 with the race provisionally scheduled for a 13.00 start

The Race – Brands Hatch – From Pole to Podium! (Set the V+ or Sky box to record – Seb Morris – Welshman on pole + 2nd place podium finish in Brit GT & Brands on TV this weekend!) British GT Championship debutant Seb Morris secured a richly deserved podium finish on his first ever outing in endurance competition at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 17th April, during an incident-packed opening round of the 2016 season at the Kent track. Making a sizeable impact from the outset along with team-mate Rick Parfitt Jnr, the duo steered their No.31 Bentley Continental GT3 to a famous – and very dominant – pole position in qualifying! And then ended the shortened race in 2nd place, having led the opening half of the race! This got the year off to a fantastic start. “It would have been nice to win but I’m not disappointed to be honest”, Seb, “If someone had said before the season we’d have taken pole and had a podium on the first weekend, I would’ve taken that. “I’m very impressed with the team, the guys at Parker have done a fantastic job, and the way they work with Bentley is so professional – the will to win is amazing. I’m really pleased to have my first podium in over a year, it’s nice to go home with some silverware again!”

Rick & Seb celebrate their pole position!

Getting the Team Parker Racing-run Bentley in perfect shape for qualifying and the big race during two trouble-free practice sessions, the team-mates headed into the grid-determining session in confident mood and Parfitt Jnr set the squad’s stall out nicely with the fastest time in the ‘amateur’ session – a lap of 1m25.509 seconds (102.44mph). In the subsequent ‘Pro’ session Seb took over the car and punched in the quickest time of all on his first true flying lap, 1m22.907 seconds (105.65mph), when the Pirelli tyres were at their optimum to ensure the perfect beginning to his British GT campaign.

Parfitt Jnr took the opening stint of the scheduled two-hour race on Sunday afternoon and led away well from the rolling start. Gradually increasing his advantage over the first few laps, by lap 15 he was some 14 seconds to the good – but his lead was decimated 10 laps later when a ‘full course yellow’ cautionary period was put in place following a major collision at Pilgrim’s Drop.

Due to significant barrier damage, the race remained under caution for a long time and was still under yellow flag conditions when the pit window opened. Parfitt Jnr pitted at the first opportunity to allow Seb to take over but they lost 30 seconds in the stop when an errant GT4 Class car blocked the Parker garage. Ultimately, Seb joined the race in fourth position.

Racing eventually got back underway with just under 45 minutes remaining on the clock and the MSA Team UK driver instantly set about reeling in Fabio Babini’s Lamborghini Huracan. In double-quick time, Seb caught and passed Babini for third and then set about closing down the five second deficit to Joe Osborne’s BMW Z4.

With less than 25 minutes to run, Seb had eaten-up his rival’s advantage and was in a position to challenge for second place. Frustratingly, though, the race was then red flagged following another incident and a result then declared from the end of lap 50.

Post-race, though, a penalty for the BMW – linked to yellow flag overtaking infringements – elevated the No.31 Bentley into the runner-up spot. In addition to a podium on his GT debut, and also in Bentley’s first race back in British GT, Seb posted the third fastest lap of 1m25.271 seconds.

“It’s frustrating what happened with the full course yellow, we reduced our pace as we should but that meant Rick lost his big lead – it’s such a shame for him as he did a fantastic job to build such an advantage”, reflected Seb, “Overall, though, we have to be pleased with what we did this weekend and we’re feeling very confident now for the next round.”

Rockingham in Northamptonshire will host the second round of the British GT Championship season, another two-hour race, on Sunday, 1st May.

Preview – WRDA member Seb Morris will embark on the start of an exciting new chapter in his motorsport career this coming weekend, 16th/17th April, when he lines up on the grid for the 2 hour raceon the Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit in the opening round of the 2016 British GT Championship. (watch out for it on BT Sport 2 and Channel 4). Making the switch from single-seaters to closed-wheel, endurance-based GT racing this year, the 20-year-old from Marford will compete as the ‘Pro’ driver at the wheel of Team Parker Racing’s glorious No.31 Bentley Continental GT3 in the Pro-Am class of British GT. His team mate will be ‘amateur’ driver Rick Parfitt Jnr, the 2013 British GT4 Champion. Seb, the 2011 WRDA Welsh Young Driver of the year, who started out in the Ginetta Junior championship, is relishing the change of disciplines back to tin-tops, after a stellar career in single-seaters; where he has been a champion in Formula Renault, Vice-Champion in BRDC Formula 4 and a points-scorer in FIA Formula One World Championship support category GP3. “At the end of the day, we’re racing a Bentley so we know the car is going to be fast!”, said the MSA Team UK driver, “We’ll go to Brands, work on the pit-stop procedure and do all of the small print stuff which is going to be new to me. Obviously it’s Parker’s first year with the Bentley and my debut season in GT but the cream will rise to the top and I’m confident we’ll get there this season.”

During the sole officially timed test of the pre-season at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk last month during the championship’s annual ‘Media Day’, Seb and team-mate Parfitt were 7th fastest on combined times. Importantly, Team Parker Racing’s preparations for the new British GT season have gone fully to plan and Seb has been training as hard as possible for his first ever endurance contest. Next Sunday’s race on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix track will be the longest of his career to date, with roughly an hour behind the wheel during the 120-minute contest.

Although having raced in Europe for the last couple of years, Seb is more than familiar with the Kent venue from his time in UK single-seater racing and also the Ginetta Junior Championship where he began his career with two championship titles.

“Testing has gone very smoothly”, added Seb, “I’ve been happy with my performance and think I’m in the ballpark of the Pro racers, & Rick has got his lap times down to a good ‘amateur’ pace. We have been running the full weight on the car so we’ve been able to compare with last year’s British GT and Blancpain Endurance Cup times to get an idea of where we might be. (Seb was able to get further insight on the Bentley from his friend and mentor Andy Meyrick, who stared in the Blancpain Endurance Cup in 2014 & 2015)

“Everyone at Team Parker is doing a brilliant job, plus we’ve had Bentley engineers on hand too, so everything has gone as well as it could. This is going to be a much more enjoyable form of racing than the last year or so has been for me, when you’re behind someone you’re going to be able to actually race them. I’m really looking forward to having some proper battles again!”

Following two practice sessions on Saturday, 16th April, qualifying for the opening round of the British GT Championship season will get underway at 16.45 with the ‘Am’ session, followed immediately by the ‘Pro’ session. On Sunday, 17th April, there will be a brief 10-minute morning warm-up with the two-hour opening race of the 2016 campaign beginning at 13.30.

Matt Parrys 4th place in Sepang has kept him in 7th place in the GP3 Driver Standings with 82 points as the GP3 series moves to it close at Yas Marina Circuit, United Arab Emirates, over 25 – 27 Nov 2016, as part of the Abu Dhaabi Grand Prix. Parry is 11 points ahead of Japanese driver Nirei Fukuzumi and 26 behind Dutchman Nyck De Vries and with 42 points on offer, Matt will have to drive well in both races, and see what happens ! http://www.gp3series.com/Standings/Driver/ http://www.gp3series.com/

WRDA member & GP3 contender Matt Parry is racing at Monza this weekend (3/4 September) after a disappointing weekend at Spa Francorchamps! After setting a good qualifying place, he was nerfed off at La Source at the start of race 1, and then was hit from behind by Jake Hughes and sent into the barriers at the end of the Kemmel straight in race 2! “I don’t know what to say without swearing!” he said! Monza can’t come soon enough! One consolation is the Stewards have given Hughes a 3 place grid penalty for causing the incident! None the less Matt is still in 5th place in the points standing and is currently the leading British driver! http://www.gp3series.com/Standings/Driver/

Pirelli’s Racing Manager Mario Isola commented: “The high ambient and track temperatures made for a big challenge, particularly on Saturday, and those drivers who deployed effective tyre management were rewarded with strong results. In GP3 we actually decided to modify the original nomination for Spa, which was going to be medium, in favour of soft. This was a decision taken thanks to our very good co-operation with the series promoter, in order to set an additional challenge for the GP3 drivers with tyre management. By the end of the 40-minute race we saw quite a lot of degradation, with drivers able to deal with oversteer, or gain an advantage from having looked after their tyres in the early part of the race.”

Hungary. Matt scored 15 more points with a fine 3rd place in race ! In race 2 he was able to hang on to score 2 points with a 7th place finish and maintained his 4th place in the points standings. He now has 70 points. There is now a ‘summer’ break with the next rounds at Spa Francorchamps on August 274th & 28th. Race report to follow.

Matt Parry will be hungry for more success in the GP3 races at Hockenheim this weekend, after last weeks win in Hungary and is bound to be on a high having moved up to 4th place in the points standings as a result of him taking his maiden win in Race 1 and his 5th place in Race 2 in the Koiranen GP run car, last weekend at the Hungaroring.

After posting his best qualifying result to take a front row start, Matt Parry (WRDA member & 2013 Welsh Young Driver of the Year) stormed to dominant win after leading from start to finish to pocket his first GP3 race! Matt, made himself an instant Welsh hero after making a good start and maintained a comfortable margin back to Trident and Ferrari Driver Academy’s Antonio Fuoco in second. Arden International’s Jake Dennis achieved his maiden GP3 rostrum in third.

Pole sitter Nyck de Vries , from Holland, was left stranded, as the rest of the pack passed him on the formation lap, and had to start the race from the pitlane, leaving the way clear for Parry to pull a 1.2s advantage over Fuoco after the opening lap with Dennis, Nirei Fukuzumi, Leclerc and Ralph Boschung completing the top five. Parry was calm at the front of the field as he started to extend his lead over Fuoco to win by over 3 seconds! After 22 laps, the chequered flag was waved to an ecstatic Parry who was happy to celebrate his maiden win in the category. It was also the second victory for Finnish Koiranen GP team. Fuoco again was happy to take yet another rostrum, marking his consistency, whilst Dennis finally broke the duck off his back after a series of bad luck to enjoy some well-deserved champagne!

After the race Matt was ecstatic! ‘Yeah I feel pretty good! Obviously this had been a target this season; to make sure we got a race win. It’s good to get the monkey off the back for both the team and me. We can now take that momentum forward for the remaining ones this year.

We were a little bit lucky with what happened with Nyck. I feel horrible for Nyck as when his car didn’t start, that was bad for him. It made it a lot easier for us so I wanted to make sure I stayed in P1 going into Turn 1. Antonio was on the outside of me as he made a much better start, and Jake was right behind us too. I was on the inside which made it relatively easy to defend. From there it may have looked easy but I was saying to the team you just have a constant battle with yourself. (Laughs). I was just looking in the mirrors and could see Antonio…I was thinking he was going to catch me and I was telling myself not to be stupid and that it was going to be fine. I just kept focused and tried to not make any mistakes. We did that and we came away with the win which was a fantastic feeling. I just need to make sure we keep starting on the front row, it definitely makes it a lot easier than the last few races when we were fighting in the middle of the back. So we need to take that good qualifying forward and just take a lot of confidence from it’

In the reverse grid Race 2, Matt maintained his form to finish 6th and ahead of Denis, as Fuoco slumped to 10th! The points have moved Matt up to 5th in the points, with only 1 point separating him from Fuoco and his Koiranenteam-mate Ralph Boschung! The next races in the 2016 GP3 season is at Hockenheimring, next weekend 29 – 31 Jul.

http://www.gp3series.com/Standings/Driver/

Red Bull Ring Report.

Matts chances improved after he was boosted to 11th on the grid although it looked as if he had put his car on the front row for race 1! In a very difficult qualifying session which saw mixed conditions, but later had the time disallowed due to exceeding track limits. In a session puncuated by red flags,

Matt Parry will start 12th, later improved to 11th on the grid for the first of 2 GP3 races!

Red Bull Ring Report. Matt Parry opened his 2016 GP3 Series account with points in both races at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, but felt he could have been standing on the top step of the podium rather than accepting sixth and seventh places. Matt underlined his testing form but had a nightmare in qualifying when he had a repeat of a problem he suffered in last year when the car went into safe mode, two turns from home!
Matt explained “There are a number of safety features built into the GP3 car, and I hit one of the limiters on the engine at just the wrong time. The car went into safety mode approaching turn eight and I lost 50 per cent of the throttle when I tried to accelerate out. That was probably worth two or three tenths, which would have been enough to push me up to at least third on the grid.”Matt knew that he would need to make some quick moves to improve on that, during the opening 24-lap race on Saturday evening, but a poor getaway meant that he had to be aggressive through the first few corners. Having climbed to fourth, however, he found himself caught behind Koiranen GP team-mate Ralph Boschung at turn three, leaving him vulnerable to attack from behind and ultimately costing a couple of positions. Although able to keep pace with those ahead of him, despite running in ‘dirty’ air, Parry’s attempts to re-pass were again frustrated by the limitation of the 2016 car and tyres and, as rain began to fall towards the end of the race, he conceded another position as he sought the driest line.
“I just didn’t race well. My start was poor, but I still managed to be challenging for third part way around the opening lap. Then I got boxed in behind my team-mate and that undid the earlier effort! I had good pace through the middle of the race, but could only manage 6th place, but it should have been better!”
On Sunday morning, with race two had to take its start behind the safety car due to extent of the downpour. Starting from third on the partially-reversed grid, Parry was quickly promoted to second on the road when one of the ART cars developed a problem, but no racing was possible until lap ten.When the field was unleashed, the Welshman made no secret of his intent, harrying leader Jake Hughes into the first corner, but both Britons saw their hopes of a maiden GP3 win disappear on exit as the leader bogged down and Parry had nowhere to go but into the back of the DAMS machine. Although he briefly continued as the new race leader, Parry’s #14 Koiranen car had suffered enough front end damage to hamper both grip and retardation and, when he slithered off the road a couple of corners later, he dropped to seventh as the safety car made the first of several reappearances.
“Despite the conditions, I wanted to go racing as I really felt that I had the ability to win,” Parry said, “I was in second because [Nirei] Fukuzumi had his car lapse into safety mode because of the conditions and, unfortunately, it seems that Jake had a similar issue because he went nowhere exiting turn one. I was so close behind him that there was no way of avoiding contact, and that effectively ended both our races. The contact damaged my front wing and also made it hard to brake, and that’s why I went off the road. After that, it was probably fortunate that the safety car kept returning because it would have been hard for me to hold position.“It’s definitely a missed opportunity as the Koiranen car was clearly very good in the conditions. My team-mate went on to win the race, and I would have had an obvious advantage if I’d managed to get to the front, where there would have been no spray to contend with. It’s frustrating, but it is what it is. I ended up P6 and P7 in R2, Overall we made too many mistakes throughout the weekend. Congratulations to my team-mate Ralph Boschung for the win! I’ll just take whatever positives I can from Austria and look to get something more from my home race this weekend..”Round three of the 2016 GP3 Series takes place in support of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, over the weekend of 8-10 July, and Parry will be hoping to repeat the sort of form that saw him stand on the podium one year ago.

Race pre-view. The 2016 GP3 season restarted in Austria last weekend, as part of the support to the Austrian Grand Prix. After a 6 week lay-off since the first round in Spain, the series then goes on a run of 4 races in July! The Austrian circuit is now known as ‘The Red Bull Ring’ and is in the Styrian Mountains. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring and hosted the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from 1970 to 1987, before it was changed to its current configuration in 1997. It is now owned by Red Bull drinks magnate Dietrich Mateschitz .

Cardiffs’ Matt Parry driving with the Koiranen GP team showed well during the recent tests and has high hopes.

Matt Parry quickest on Day Two of GP3 test in Valencia! edited byRobert Allender

WRDA member Matthew Parry (the 2013 WRDA Young Driver of the Year) posted the quickest time this morning on a wet track at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on the second day of pre-season testing, and followed that up with 3rd in the dry afternoon session. Matt’s best morning lap was 0.064’s faster than ART Grand Prix’s Nirei Fukuzum

Matt Parry quick in GP3 test – edited byRobert Allender

It was another glorious day in Spielberg for the second and final day of testing. The start of the morning session was frenetic with all of the drivers keen to undertake race simulations. Midway into the session WRDA member Matthew Parry, driving for the Koiranen GP team,was fastest by 0.027s. but he was beaten late on by Charles Leclerc who is from Monaco and Antonio Fuoco, (Ferrari Driver Academy) to finish as the 3rd fastest.

In the later session Matt was 10th. The next race in the series will be only the Round 2 of the 2016 season will be at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on 1st to 3rd of July.

Matt Parry quickest on Day Two of GP3 test in Valencia! edited byRobert Allender

WRDA member Matthew Parry (the 2013 WRDA Young Driver of the Year) posted the quickest time this morning on a wet track at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia on the second day of pre-season testing, and followed that up with 3rd in the dry afternoon session. Matt’s best morning lap was 0.064’s faster than ART Grand Prix’s Nirei Fukuzumi. Ferrari Driver Academy and fellow ART GP debutant Charles Leclerc clocked the fastest time in the afternoon session.

Heavy rain had fallen just prior to the session so the 24 drivers were greeted with a wet track and much cooler temperatures at the start of day two. Conditions were fairly tricky at the beginning of the test due to the volume of spray as the grid ventured out on track with their wet Pirelli tyres.

Fukuzumi was the initial pace-setter before Campos Racing’s Steijn Schothorst took control of the timesheet after one hour and thirty minutes as blue skies and sunshine made a welcome appearance. Trident’s Giuliano Alesi went P1 as he was first to dip under the 1m30s bracket.

The lap-times continued to come down in the latter part of the session as the track dried with Parry recording a time of 1:23.549 on slick tyres. Russian Matevos Isaakyan broke into the 1m22s barrier, which was subsequently followed by a short red flag period after his teammate Ralph Boschung stopped on track.

Once the session resumed, positions swapped every few minutes with Trident’s Antonio Fuoco and ART Grand Prix’s Charles Leclerc first to lap in the 1m21s. Parry found some extra pace to go top before Leclerc retaliated and bettered the Brit’s time by two tenths. In the final ten minutes, Fukuzumi demoted teammate Leclerc to second by a mere 0.004s but the action wasn’t over as Parry returned to the top of the timings by 0.064s.

Following the one hour lunch break, Fukuzumi led the way early on before Parry again found some extra pace to leapfrog the Japanese rookie by three tenths. Leclerc lapped a tenth quicker to grab P1, whilst Hughes rose to second in the final half hour. At the close of the afternoon session Leclerc remained unchallenged in front of Hughes, Parry, Santino Ferrucci, Boschung, Kevin Jörg, Fukuzumi, Alexander Albon, Jake Dennis and Konstantin Tereshchenko.

The third and final pre-season test will held at the Circuit de Catalunya on April 20-21 in Barcelona.

Day Two – morning session

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1.

Matthew Parry

Koiranen GP

1:21.476

41

2.

Nirei Fukuzumi

ART Grand Prix

1:21.560

52

3.

Charles Leclerc

ART Grand Prix

1:21.564

50

Jann in Japan #1

Jann Mardenborough got to meet his new team, with teammate Kazuki Hoshino and team boss Masahiro Hasemiin in Yokohama on Sunday. Jann will be driving in the Japanese GT and also the Japan F3 championship in 2016!

You don’t have to be Welsh to join in the fun! The WRDA- Leading the way in Welsh racing since 1982

Alan Jenkins writes ‘Just a reminder that registrations are now due and the sooner I get them in, the better, so please register asap! Big thanks to those of you have already registered. Just a heads up for Castle Combe we have to pay upfront for Castle Combe, so I will be sending out a payment schedule for Combe. This will have to be adhered to guys and gals, for us to meet our commitments. (a big thanks to Glynne Jones who has already sent his Combe entry fee in!) Cheers Alan

All registered competitors will receive a joker card which can beplayed atanyraceduringtheseason to claim double points for that race. The Joker Card must be handed to the Race Day Co-ordinator 30 minutes prior to the start of the race.